Microcomputers in the Schools - ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 238 222 EC 161 138

TITLE Microcomputers in the Schools--Implementation inSpecial Education. Case Study Report.

INSTITUTION COSMOS Corp., Washington, DC.; SRA Technologies,Inc., Arlington, VA.

SPONS AGENCY Special Education Programs (ED/OSERS), Washington,DC. Div. of Educational Services.

PUB DATE Sep 83CONTRACT 300-82-0250NOTE 256p.; For related document, see EC 161,137.PUB TYPE Reports Descriptive (141) -- Reports

Evaluative /Feasibility (142)

EDRS PRICEDESCRIPTORS

MF01/PC11 Plus Postage.Administrator Role; Case Studies; *Computer AssistedInstruction; *Computer Managed Instruction;*Disabilities; Elementary Secondary Education;*Microcomputers; Program Development; ProgramImplementation; School.Districts;-TeacherEducation

ABSTRACTThe report presents case studies of microcomputer use

in 12 school districts' special education programs. The case studyapproach was designed to focus on organizational issues, specificallythe following four: nature of collaboration between regular andspecial education, centralization or decentralization ofdecisionmaking in implementation phases, cooperation betweenadministrators and educators regarding application (administrativevs. instructional)', and training in the use of microcomputers. Aninitial section analyzes,data across the case studies. Major findingsinclude overall collaboration in the use of microcomputers betweenspecial and regular education, especially, at the building ratherthan district level; the importance of a small team approach toimplementation; lack of conflict between administrative and

-ional applications in microcomputer systems; and emergingtrends in designation of a coordinator to superv4se implementation.Each of the 12 case studies reports on program development and.chronology, features of the microcomputer system, and organizationalaspects. (CL)

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EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATIONCENTER IERICI

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onginatingMinor changes have been made to improvereproduction quality

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Microcomputersin the Schools

Implementationin Special Education

CASE STUDY REPORT

SRA TechnologiesandCosmos Corporation

4z,

"PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THISMATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY

TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCESmersrteti AlrietrCIUTCP MI:11n "

SRA Technologies901 S. Highland Street, Arlington, VA 22204 703-486-0600

Suite 402, 2570 West El Camino Real, Mountain View, CA 94040

Q

Microcomptiters in the Schools

Implementaiion in Special, Education

CASE STUDY REPORT

Submitted to

Special Education Programs

U.S. Department of Education

A Washington, -D.C.

Contract No. 300-82-0250

SRA Technologies, inc.

901 S. Highland Street

Arlington, VA 22204-

(703) 486-0600

Cosmos CorporationI

1730 K Street, N.W., Suite 1301z.

Washington, DC 20006

(202) 296-6595

September 15, 1983

MICROCOMPUTERS IN THE SCHOOLS--

IMPLEMENTATION IN SPECIAL EDUCATION

Case'Study Report

September 15, 1983

This research is sponsored by the U.S.Department of Education, Special Educa-tion Programs, Division of EducationalServices) Contract Number 300-82-0250.The project is being conducted by SRATechnologies, Inc. of Arlington, Virginia,and COSMOS Corporation of Washington, D.C.The opinions expressed in this document_are those of the authors and do not ne-cessar-ily reflect the position or policyof the U.S. Department of Education, andno official endorsement should be'inferred.

I

5

Pro

MICROCOMPUTERS IN THE SCHOOLS--

IMPLEMENTATION IN SPECIAL EDUCATION

Case Study Report

November(3 1983

ect Staff and Authors

Project L

Principal Investigator:

Case Study Specialist:

Dissemination Specialist:

Additional Field Staff:

Editor:

of This Report:

Tom V. HanleySRA Technologies, Inc.Robert K. YinCOSMOS CorporationJ. Lynne WhiteCOSMOS CorporationLaura S. ClarkSRA Technologies, Inc.Susan A. BrUmmelDonald P. HorstKarl D. WhiteSRA Technologies, Inc.Margaret R. BrandisSRA Technologies,' Inc.

PREFACE'

Computer - assisted instruction (CAI) has been demonstratedas effective with handicapped students (Cartwright & Hall, 1974;Carmen & Kosberg, r9e2t; Hasselbring, 1982). Further, indirectsupport for CAI with special populaiiops can be derived fromfindings reported in more geneial cesearch. Reviewers havenoted -that.4Pe strongest positive effects of-CAI were measuredin lower level coursework (Hartley, 1977; Kulik, 1981') and ininstruction for "disadvantaged" (Jamison, Suppes, & -Wells, 1974)or lower functioning students (Kulik, Bangert, & Williams,1983).

n additir, 'there i$ a growing crnsensus and enthusiasmfor th = use oflmicrocomplters in special-education programS(Hofma. s r,. 1982; Taber, 1983), beyond the generally applicable(for all populations) -adv.antages of CAI (Budoff & Hutton, 1982;Roblyer'E. King, 1983; Torgesen & Young, 1983). The salientfeatures include:

an ability to structure software to_meetpredetermined objectives;

a heightened eAfica9y of "drill-and--practice"exercises with some students;

the escaping og the long history of failurewith workbooks

a nonthreatening instructional interaction;

a failure-free mastery of new skills;

the engaging and attention-keeping abilityof microcomputers;

the reinforcement and support for priorlearning; and

the savings in time spent to reach instr c-- tional objectives.

Microcomputers have also been targeted as potentiallybeneficial tools tr assist educators in the myriad ofinformation manage!aent tasks associated with schooladministration. In particu?ar, the extensive record-keepingrequirements associated with P.L. 44-142 have generated much

interest in administrative applications of microcomputers

(Whitney & Hofmeister. 1981).

Given the potent:al for the use of this new technology in

special education, tKis study h,s been sponsored by the Special

Education Programs di"ision of the U.S. Department of Education.

The project, which includes both research and informationdevelopment components, is bing :.:onducted by SRA Technologies,

Inc. of Arlington, Virgini, and COSMOS Corporation of

Washington, D.C. During the spring of 1983, twelve case studies

of microcomputer implementation ware conducted in school

districts across the cc.intr.

The case study methc,d use in this research focused onorganizational issues, and especiaLly the following major

issues:

'the nature of the collboration betweenspecial and regular education in imple-menting microcomputer use;

the centralisation or decentralization ofdecision making in different stages of imple-mentation--planning, adoption, purchasing,training, coordination, etc.;

the nature of cooperation between adminis-

trators and educators vas -a-vis nstructional

vs. administrative appfications; and

training io the use of microcomputers androles that emerged to foster use of the tech.-.

nology.

These issues were examined .individually in 4ach case study and

also analyzed across the cases. ,

This report is in two parts. The first is a cross-cas

analysis and summarizes the major results and findings

synthesized from the individual case studies. The second part

consists of the twelve case studies. During 1983-1984, the

information collected and analyzed in this research will serve

as a basis for an extensive dissemalation effort, to assist

special educators in using microcomputers appropriately.

V

For purposes of simplicity, the 12 school districts areidentified by one-word names;

Abingdon

Boise

-Cheyenne

Commack

Washington County School District,Abingdon, Virginia

Independent Sci4.00l District ofBoise City,Boise, Idaho

Laramie County School DistrictNumber One,,Cheyenne, Wyoming

Commack-Union Free School)

District,Commack, New York

Hopkins Hopkins School District Number 270,Hopkins, Minnesota

Lexington * Minuteman 'Regional Vocational TecnnicalSchool District,Lexington, Massachusetts

Linden r

OakIlurst

Pittsburg

Presctt

Shelby

Tallulahr

Linden School District,Linden, Michic7an

Township of 0cen School Distiict,_Oakhurst, New iaersey

Pittsburg Unified School District,Pittsburg, California

Prescott Unified School DistrictNumber One,PrescdOtt, Arizona

Shelby City School DistriCt,Shelby, Ohio

radison Parish School System,TX1lulah, Louisiana.

--/

4

VII

TABLE OF CONTESTS

Preface iii

CROSS CASE REPORT 1ti

I. Introduction 3

II. Characteristics-of MicrocompuLer "Systems" 7

III. Special Educ9ion Use of Microcomputers--. Collaboration or Specialization' 15

IV. Supervising the Microcomputers From theTop Down, or the Bottom Up' 23

rV Administrative and'Instructional Applications:

Competitive or Complementary' 31

VI. Training and Emerging Staff Roles forMicrocomputer Implementation 41

1References 53

INDIVIDUAL CASE STUDY REPORTS 55

Washington County School DistrictAbingdon, iIirginia 5'7

Inpependent School District of Boise Cityoise, Idaho 75

Laramie County School District Number OneCheyenne, Wyoming 91

Commack Union Free School DistrictCommack, New York 113

. .

Hopkins School District Number 270Hopkins, Minnesota 133.

Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical SChoO1district, .

Lexington, Massachusetts -149

Linden School Dis.rictLinden, Michigan 165

viii

Township of Ocean School DistrictOakhurst, New Je4sey- 179

Pittsburg Unified School DistrictPittsburg, California

199

Prescott Unified School District Number One

Prescott, Arizona 217

Shelby City School DistrictShelby, Ohio 237

Madison Parish School SystemTallulah, Louisiana 255

t

SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND

THEIR. MICROCOMPUTER "SYSTEMS"

Cross Case Report

12

3

I. INTRODUCTION

The topic of microcomputer implementation in schools is

unusually difficult to study. Microcomputers are independent,self-standing units, and their use in schools can involve: a)the units independently, b) the units as part of larger "sys-tems," or c) both. .

In studying independent units, the major implementationissues tend to deal with classroom management- -e.g., the ways in

awhich teachers May arrange schedules for student use or locatethe unit within the classroom. Although such issues may beimportant in explining_educational outcomes, they are not asrelevant in guiding district policy on such questions as:

1. Should all the microcomputers in the districtbe of the same brand of hardware, pr is somemix 'of brands justifiable or even advantageous?

2. Should the microcomputers all be purchased atthe same time, or at regular annual intervalsin an incremental fashion? 2

3. How have microcomputers been used for studentswith-speciaPneeds--e.g., the handiCapped--andhow has the district's administration of regu-lar and special education changed, if at all?

A. How should the microcomputers in a district be

supervised-7on a centralized or decentralizedpattern?

5. What patterns have evolved in using microcompu-ters for administrative vs. instructional apOli-cations?

6. What kind of .training tends to facilitate theimplementation process and the development ofmicrocomputer use?

7. Are new administrative or supportive roles emer-ging which districts may need to anticipate?

From the st ndpoint of these types of questions, a study mustdeal with .the various microcomputer "systems" that may existwithi' a district, and not necessarily focus on-individualunits.

4

The present investigation, based on case studies of.micro-

computer use in twelve school districts (see Table I-1 for a

summary of the districts' characteristics), was mainly oriented

toward these organizational and administrative issues, and

therefore concentrated on the experiences with microcomputer"systems," and not sim ly individual units. Yet, such an empha-

sis raises new question not readily answerable, having to do

with the definition of s ch "systems." Section II-deals with

this definitional proble .,,and also addresses Questions 1 and 2

above. Questions 3, 4, and 5 are then the topics of separate

sections (III,' IV, and V), while Questions 6 and 7 are coveredtogether in Section VI of this report.

Dingdon School DistrictAbingdon, Virginia

. Southwest Virginia(9th DistriCt)

. Suburban/Rural. Lower'and middle. 8,80D (stable). Predominantly White

oise School District. Boise, Idaho. Southwest Idaho

(1st 6 2nd Districts). Urban/suburban. Middle. 21,000 (stable). Predominantly White

beyenne School DistrictCheyenne, Wyoming

utheast Wyoming(A Large)Urba ural

1. Middle13,000 (stable)

!. Predominantly White

:ommack School District

5

Table I-1

District Characteristics

Hopkins School Districta. Hopkins, Minnesotab. Minneapolis area

(3rd District)c. Suburband. Middlee. 6,900 (slightly declining)f. Predominantly White

Lexington Regional Districta. Lexihgton, Massachusettsb. Boston area

(7th District)c. SuburbanS. Upper middlee. 1,250 (stable)f. Predominantly White

Linden School Districta. Linden, Michiganb. Flint area

(7th District)c. Suburban/Rurald. Lower middlee. 2,500 (slightly declining)f. Predominantly White

Oakhurst School District

Pittsburg School Districta. Pittsburg, Californiab. East Bay area

(7th District)c. Suburband. Middle and lowerAli. 6,000 (stable)f. Mixed

PrescottSchool Districta. -Prescott, Arizonab. Near Phoenix

(,3rd District)c. Suburban/rurald. Middlee. 4,450 (itable)f. Predominantly White

Shelby School Districta. Shelby, Ohiob. North Central Ohio

(4th District)c. Suburban/rurald. Middlee. 2,800 (stable)f. Predominantly White

Tallulah School DistrictL. Commack, New York a. Oakhurst, New Jersey a. Tailulah, Louisiana). Long Island b. New Jersey Coast b. Near Jackson, Mississi

(3rd District) (3rd District) (5th District)

Suburban c. Suburban c. Suburban/rural1. Upper middle d. Upper middle d. Lower

3. "9,200 (declining) e. 4,150 (declining) e. 3,800 (slightly declir

E. Predominantly White f. Predominantly White f. Predominantly Black

4

LEGEND: a. City, State d. Income Levelb. Location (and Congressional e. Student Population

District) (and Trend)c. Suburban/Urban/Rural f. Ethnid Composition

7

II. CHARACTERISTICS OF MICROCOMPUTER "SYSTEMS"

What is a Microcomputer "System ?"

A microcomputer "system" may be defined by the existence ofseveral decisionmaking patterns:

Coordinated decisions have been madefor the initial purchase of the micro-computers;

Coordinated decisions have been madefor the upgrading of these units ortheir augmentation by subsequent pur-chases;

Coordinated decisions have been maderegarding the allocation of the micro-computers to different physical loca-tions,'to different subject topics, orto meet various scheduling needs;

Some- functional interdependency existsamong the units--e.g., in the formalsharing of software or the provisionof maintenance services; and

some common arrangement has been madeto provide user training.

All of these characteristics will not be found in all cases.However, the more that the same set of microcomputers has thesecharacteristics, the more that the units may be considered part

of the same system.

This notion of microcomputer "systems" is needed to studymicrocomputers from an organizational point of view and to

consider the related implementation issues. Even with anexplicit definition, however, a precise enumeration of themicrocomputers within.a given system may still not be possiblein all 'cases. For example, an individual microcomputer unitimaybe purchased by a local parent-teaCher association, to be p14cedin a specific school. The unit may .then share some of the samesoftware already in thelschool. In,,sAkch a case, whether thisunit is considered part of the same St)different microcomputersystem is rather arbitrary. In spite of such instances,however, the overall definition of microcomputer "systems" isStill useful for identifying those microcomputers that fall

8

within the same decisionmaking and organizational context.

Characteristics of Microcomputer Systems Studied

This definition' also allows an analyst to understand that

there may indeed be more than one microcomputer system within

the same school district. One group of microcomputers may have

been purchased and administered for.one general purpose (e.g.,

instructional applications), and another group may have been

purchased and administered for some other general purpose (e.g.,

administrative applications). The implementation pattern for

both groups mly be different, and neither system may have much

to do with the other.

Selection of Systems to be Studied. In the present inves-

tigation, the goal was to focus on the microcomputer system used

for special education in any given school district. Thus, the

procedure for selecting the cases to be studied was based on the

characteristics of these particular microcomputers, and not any

of the others that alsoinight have been present in the same .

district.

A nomination procedure was developed, whereby ,special

education staff .were Contacted in numerous school districts, to

determine whether Microcomputers were being used for such

purposes.. If they were, two other criteria were used to select

the final districts to be studied: a) the special education

microcomputers ha to have been in place for three semesters or

'longer, and b) t special education microcomputers had to have

been used fot a mix of instuctional and administrative patterns

across cases. The first criterion was used to assure that the

implementation process-had proceeded sufficiently to produce

adequate. information for study--i.e., the investigation was not

to be-limited to the early adoption experience of school dis-

tricts. The second criterion was used to assure coverage of a

major implementation issue, as described in greater detail in

Section V of this report.

Summary Characteristics. Given this procedure, twelve case

studies were conducted, each focusing on a microcomputer system

within a school district. Table II-1 summarizes the basic

characteristics of these system.

The case studies revealed great diversity in the size and

functions of each of the microcomputer systems. Even though all

were used for special education, only a few were dedicated

solely for that purpose (Abingdon, Linden, and Tallulah); in

most cases, the microcomputers were shared/between special and

regular education applications, with the proportions often not

clearly specifiable dueto the extensive interaction between

9

Table II -1

Microcomputer Characteristics

:in don School District. 23 Apple II-Plus. 1979. ESEA Title IV-C

23 Apple II-Plus

oise School District7 Apple II-Plus2' Bell i Sowell Apple2 Commodore 641979

. ESEA Title IV -CDonationsParent Teacher Organi-zation/ District,Budget; Gifted PtogramP.L. 94-142

. 14 TRS-8024 Cromemco CIO

beyenm)Sthool District44"-Apple II-Plus14 Commodore PET66 TRS-802 Altair4 Commodore 64

). 1979Chapter 1Chapter 2District' BudgetAssociation for Studentswith Learning Disabilities3 Commodore W/p 80825 Commodore CBM 10011 Apple I/-Plus

Commack School Districta. 55 Commodore PET

1 Texas Instrument1 Apple II-plus

b. 1978c. ESEA Title IV-C

ESEA Chapter 1District BudgetParent TeacherAssociation P.L. 94-142

d. 2 Commodore 803213 Compucolor

Hopkins School Districta. 117 Apple II-P us

3 TRS-80b. 1978c. P.L. 94-142

ESEA Title 117-iDistrict Budgetparent TeacherOrganization

d. None

LexinIto Regional Districta. 22 Apple II-Plusb. 1980c. P.L. 94-482d. 5 Beathkit

Linden School Districta. 12 Commodore PET

2 Apple II-Plusb. 1979c. Local Fundraising

P.L. 94-142ESEA Title IV-11

d. 9 Commodore PET,

Oakhurst Schaal Distr ict

a. 37 Commodore PtT1 Commodore CBM1 AtariI VIC 20

b. 1979c. Title I/Chapter 1

Title II/Chapter 2Gifted/Talented

d. 5 Commodore PET3 Apple II-Plus

Pittsburg School Districta. 10 TRS-80

4 Apple IIe1982,State Vocational Education FundsP.L. 94-142Chapter 2District BudgetLocal Fund raising (e.g.,parents group)Emergency School Aid Act

d. 5 Intertec Compustar2 Apple II-Plus1 CompuPro5 TRE-S0

Prescott School District

b.

c.

a.b.c.

d.

298 Commodore PET1979ESEA Title IV-CState Vocational EducationProgramDistrict BudgetNone

Shelbx_School Districta. 9 TRS-80

4 Apple II-Plus4 Commodore PET1 Apple II.1980ESEA Title IV -CGifted/TalentedESEA Title IV-EPrincipal's BudgetESEA Title VI'-BParent'Teacher Organi-zation; Local Fund raisingNone

b.c.

d.

State Funds

Tallulah School Districta. 2 Intertec Compustarb. 1979c. P.L. 94-142d. 1 TRS-80

9 Commodore PET

LEGEND: a. Number and type of microcomputers c.

in system studied

b. Year of intial use of micr000m- d.

paters in system studied

Major funding source for micro-=paters studied

Number snd type of other micro-computers in district, not studied

1 6

10

these programs in a district. This characteristic and the:

related educational and administrative issues are discussedfurther in Section III.

In addition, the microcomputer systems were indeed notnecessarily the only microcomputers in the same district. Other

microcomputers also co-existed, being part of different systems.In fact, in only three of the cases were the microcomputersystems studied the only systems in the district (Prescott,Shelby, and-Hopkins). Thus, Table II-1 indicates the number of

microcomputers in each system, as well as the number of units in

other systems in the same district.

Table II-1 also captures two other salient characteristics,

worthy of further discussion. First, the microcomputers withinthe same system need not be of the same brand of hardware. ;

Indeed, in only three of the cases (Prescott, Lexington, andAbingdon) did, the system consist of only one brand of hardware'.The diversity of brands within the same system can createcoordination problems, 'as in the case of one district (Shelby). NHowever, such diversity also can-be desirable.

For instance,'different brands of hardware may have differ-ent strengths and weaknesses regarding different applica-tions--e.g., wordprocessing as an instructional. tool vs.drill-and-practice routines vs. lessOns in computer education

(e.g., LOGO). If a district knows it will be undertaking suchdiverse applications, this may very well justify the purchase ofdifferent types of hardware, and coordination problems may be

minimized because the applications will involve differentteaching staffs and classrooms. Such diversity also has oneadditional benefit: The units for one type of hardware will be"secure" in relation to the units for another type of hardware.

Thus, if specific administrative applications (e.g., grades-,

test scores) are to be part bf the overall microcomputer system,these applications will not be threatened by tampering if they

involve a different brand of hardware- from the otheir micro-

computers.

Second, the microcomputers within the system have beensupported by a diverse array of funding sources. These funds

appear to equally reflect federal and state as well as local

sources; among. the federal sources] both categorical and blockgrants were used, and among the local sources, both districtrevenues and funds from voluntary efforts \were'used. The

diversity is probably a reflection of the relatively low cost of

a single microcomputer unit. Thus, different units within the

; same system may have nevertheless been purchased with funds from

different sources.

15

11

"Cohorts" of crocomputers?

' Table II 1 also indicates the initial year in which themicroomputer studied were purchased. For all the districtsexcept Pittsbu this'yea'r was 1980 or earliex, reflecting oneof the criteria for selecting the district to be part of thestudy in the first plgce. (In Pittsburg, the system studiedbegan in 1982, because the initial system upon which the sitescreening had taken place had ceased to exist.)

What the table does not indicate is that in none of thecases were the microcomputer units all purchased during thisfirst year. Indeed, one of the most salient characteristicsthroughout all of the cases is that microcomputer systems havebeen growing in an incremental twiner. Some typical examples arei.11ustrald in Table II-2c showing how annual purchases havevaried in nine of the cases (the same variations also existed in

the other three cases, but the precise numbers of units per yearwere not avai41e).

The new units each year may represent x commitment to a newcurriculum topic or grade level. For instance, a district mayhave. purchased ten microcomputers in one year, to provide allresource rooms at the junior.high school level with one unit.The following year, the ,district may have purchased 12 moreunits, and initiated computer "labs" of three.units a piece in

four elementary schools. Next, the district may have purchased12 more units, and divided them in some manner among junior highschool students who are not assigned to resource rooms (and whotherefore had no access-to the first year's microcomputers).

As the preceding example suggests, the total microcomputersystem ultimately represents a collection of different "cohorts"of microcomputer units. This type of incremental change allowsthe district to absorb increasing numbers of microcomputers at a-reasonable pace, so that training, curriculum development, andsoftware activities can be .focused each year on a different setof topics or teaching staff. Such incremental growth thereforeminimizes the disruption to the entire school district andenables a small group of district staff,to coordinate the entiremicrocomputer system.

Summary

This section has described the basic characteristics of themicrocomputers studies in twelve school districts. First, thefocus of study was a collection of "system" of microcomputers in

each school district. The relevant system was deemed the oneserving special edunation, although other' systems may also haveexisted within the same district. Second, even within a single

20

112

Table 11-2

Years of Purchase of Microcomputer bnits

DISTRICT Year: I II III IV V

Abingdon 2 3 15

Boise 2 2 1 4 3

Hopkins 1 .17 34' 17. 54

Lexington 2 10 9 1

Linden 3 4 2

Oakhurst 14 12

Prescott 40 10 40 31 177

Sheiby 5 3 7 3

Tallulah 1 1

214.

13

Adsystem, the brands of microcomputer hardware could vary, withuch variations taking advantage of different capabilities forifferent types of applications. Third, each system represented

annual increments'o new microcomputer units, rather than amassive, initial installation.

The remaining sections of this report analyze specificorganizational or implementation issues regarding these twelvemicrocomputer systems,

15

III. SPECIAL EDUCATION USE OF MICROCCmr.-UTERS--COLLABORATION OR SPECIALIZATION:

The case studies examined both the nature of microcomputerapplications used to support sPeci-al education services and the

type and extent of collaboration that occurred between regularand special educators in the use of the microcomputers.

-As a hardware technology that can be shared by many users,microcomputer systems may be considered natural candidates for

substantial sharing between special and regular educationprograms. However, the distinctive beeds of special educationsstudents could arguably lead to less sharing. For instance, forstudents with communicative disorders, special devices may haveto be used and the microcomputer units themselves may requirespecial adaptations. Similakly, the distinctive administrativeneeds of special education programs may also mean that a lesserdegree of sharing is possible. Thus, case studies.were designedto examine coll_ab4ative activities across a variety of stagesin implementation, and across time--planned interaction versusactual interaction. Finally, the case studies also investigatedthe particular benefits or problems that resulted fromcollaboration.

The sch o1 dist icts were selected to represent a variety

of possible 4ollaborative approaches. As shown in Table III-1,the majority of the microcomputer systems involved shared usageby both regular and special education--even if they had nottarted out that way, Only three systems tAbingdon, Linden, and

Tallulah) had rest cted their microcomputer implementation to

special education' applibations.

Participants in Initial Adoption of Microcomputers

Patterns of initial microcompuCer-adoption varied a greatdeal. In three systems (Cheyenne, Oakhurst, and Shelby), the

initial adoption did include s ecial education applications but,nevertheless, no special.,d4cat rs were involved in planning the

. .

original implementation.

In systems where special educators were involved in plan-

ning for the initial adoption of microcomputers, two patternsoccurred. In three systems (Boise, Linden, and Tallulah) oalzspecial educators participated in planning the initial adoptipn.In all of these cases, the original applications were designedexclusively for special education use. Thus, collaboration ininitial adoption, between special and regular education,occurred only in the semaining three systems:

16

Table III-1

Special and Regular EducationSharing of Microcomputer Applications

Participants in Applications(School Districts)

y of Applications

v

SpecialEducation

Only

Specialand RegularEducation

Instructional Abingdon Boise 'Oakhurst'Linden Cheyenne Pittsburg-

Commack PrescottHopkins ShelbyLexinpfon

Administrative Boise _Cheyenne Pittsburg-

Oakhurst Commack PrescottTallulah Hopkins Shelby

Lexington

24

4

17

Abingdon--a high school industrial arts teacherand.a high school special educationteacher;

Commack--a district administrator and an elemen-tary special education teacher; and

Lexington--a district administrator and a highschool special education teacher.

In one of these cases (Abingdon), the planned adoption was forspecial education 'students only. In the other two (Commack and'Lexington) both special and regular eduction students were

targeted.

This variety of patterns indicated that collaborationbetween special and regular education, during initial planningand adoption, was not a requirement for subsequent sharing ofthe resources. Actually, initial adoptions were more often

characterized by enthusiasm and initiative of a few individualswho were very interested in the potential .usefulness of micro-

computers in education. These initial adopters included both

administrators and teachers, and they came from b.th special and

regular education programs. In a few cases (Boise, Cheyenne,and Tallulah) the initial adoption involved only one individual.

In the other cases, the interactions were between individuals,rather than between organizational units in the school district.In none of the initial adoptions was there a formalcollaboration between district-level special and regulareducation programs.

Later Collaborative Patterns

Table 111-2 compares the collaboration of special andregular education personnel, at district and building levels, insubsequent stages ot implementation: purchases, allocation,coordination, training, and software decisions. During the

growth of the systems, aome district level collaborationoccurred, primarily over purchases and allocation. In four

districts (Hopkins, Oakhurst, Pittsburg, and Shelby), cen-tralized special education administration provided funds for the

purchase of additional microcomputers. In all but one of these(Hopkins), dittrict staff also decided where these,additionalmicrocomputers would be placed. In Hopkins, district.funds weremade available to support the purchase of microcomputers thatwere requested by the principals.

The only district level collaboration in training occurred

in Oakhurst. The special education department provided funds

18

Tabie 111-2

Special and liegular Education Collaboration'Durinc Subsequent Stages of Implementation

c

Speci/al and Regular Education Collaboration

DISTRICT Purchases' Allocation Coordination Training Softwa

Abingdon B/T BIT BIT

Boise '13/T B/T S/T B/T B/T

CheyenneB/T B/T

Commack B/Tt

B/T B/T

Hopkins D B/T ,BIT

Lexington B/T B/T B/T B/T

LindenBIT

Oakhurst D D D B/T

Pittsburg D D B/T

Prescott B/T B/T

Shelby D D B/T

Tallulah

Key: B/T = Building/Teacher LevelD = District Level

= No collaboratibn between special and regular education

26

1.7

for the purchase of 14 microcomputers during the second year ofthe district's microcomputer implementation. Because thesemicrocomputers, as well as previous units in the district, wouldnow also be used to support CAI with special education students,a special series of the district's training program was set upfor the special education teachers. However, the trainers,andthe currlulUm for this inservice were identical to the regu-larly offered microcomputer inservice. Only the group schedulingwas unique--to attract and accommodate as many special educationteachers as possible.

Overall, there was greater collaboration between regularand special educators at the building level. In many districts(Abingdon, Boise, Commack, LeXingEon, Prescott), both groups ofteachers interacted in management decisions (coordination,scheduling) related to the microcomputers. Similarly, localtraining efforts often included both special and regulareducation teachers as trainers (Abingdon, Boise, Cheyenne,Hopkins, and Lexington). In all'studied systems that includedinstructional applications (Tallulah--administrative only--was

theaple exception), special and regular education teachersshared their software. This occurred even in Abingdon andLinden, where the target systems were intended only for special

education students. In those cases, special education teachersmade software available to other teachers who were interested inusing microcomputers, or were just getting their own(independent) microcomputer systems%underway.

The Overall Pattern: Collaboration

Taken together, these findings on level, nature, and extentof collaboration did not reflect a strong differentiationbetweencspecial and regular education use of microcomputers.Identical or similar microcomputers and software were used, withreported success, by both regular and special educators. The

inservice training offered was also identical, and-equallyeffective, for both groups of users.

These results may be surprising to those who claim that theinstructional use of computers with handicapped children makesrequirements for uniquely different applications of thetechnology (than, say, for use with non-handicapped). However,

a review of recent literature in this area (e.g., Taber, 1983;Hofmeister, 1982; Budoff & Hutton, 1982; Hannaford & Taber,

1982, foi special education applications--Cohen, 1982; Kulik,Bangert, & Williams, 1983; Steinberg, 1983, for generalapplications) does not distinguish any general differencesbetween the components cf CAI considered important for either

group. Microcomputer applications with some selectivepopulations (e.g., severely handicapped and communications

n -1

20

disorders) may require special adaptations of the technology;

but the bulk of "handicapped" students are only minimallysubnormal (e.g., educable mentally retarded) or impaired in oni

certain faculties (e.g., specific learning disabilities).

In fact, the approaches advocated for instructional use ofmicrocomputers, and the advantages attached to their use(individualization, prescriptive diagnosis, consistency, etc.),

are not just the aspects of a generally sound instructionalmethod, but also the key components of educational approachescurrently favored by special educators.

It should be noted that the sample of school districtsstudied in this investigation was purposive and not random.Districtt were selected because of their history of use ofmicrocomputers in special education. Overall, there may be a

higher frequency of regular education issues, with no concomi-

tant special education need, than reflected by our cases. Thu

the broader level of collaboration may not be as high as it ou

cases. For instance, recent surveys (Euchner, 1983) have

indicated that the principal use of microcomputers in most

districts is for computer programming and computer literacy, a

these may have dominantly precluded any participation on the

part of special education.

Illustrative Special Education Applications

Independent of the collaborative issue, some of the speci

education applications of microcomputers are worth noting.

In the administrative area, there are only a limited numt

of instances when an application included features particularl

tailored to special education needs. Two districts (Prescott,

Tallulah) used custom-designed IEP development and monitoring

systems. (A few other districts indicated that they wereplanning IEP systems, but had not yet implemented them.)

In the instructional area, one system (Boise) used amicrocomputer as a communication aide for a severely handicaps

(traumatic spinal injury) student. The unit had been fitted

with a special keyboard grid to permit the student, who had

limited dexterity control, to type input. Also in Boise, vel(

strips were used on some keyboards to "hide" nonessential cha:

acters that might be distracting for some students.

In a few cases, special education teachers remarked that

there were particular features of some software that were bet

suited to handicapped students. in particular, cne featurecommonly mentioned was large, clear letter-forms. Teachers f

this was especially helpful for visually handicapped youngste

2&

21

but was also helpful for students with low ability or attentionlevels. Some teachers also felt that color-coded letters on thekeyboard were also helpful.

Nevertheless, with the few exceptions just noted, applica-tions of microcomputers didnot generally differ substantivelybetween regular and special education users. However, some dif-ferences were noted in the perceived impact and value of

applications. First of all, regarding administrativeapplications, special educators in many systems (Commack,Hopkins, Lexington, Pittsburg, Prescott, Shelby, Tallulah)reported that microcomputer capabilities were especially usefulin light of the record-keeping and report generation require-ments related,to P.L. 94-142. Similarly, some (Ho ins,

Tallulah) also noted the benefits of word proces ing/mailinglist features for regular communication with p rents.

Second as a motivational benefit, te hers in two districts(Oakhurst, Commack) cited specific case of emotionally dis-turbed children whose behavior and a demic performance weremarkedly improved, they felt, asxTunction of the introductionof microcomputers. Teachers ajso believed (Commack, Cheyenne)that typing skills were very-Tmportant for development ofeye-hand coordination by, for example, students with learningdisabilities. These teachers used educational software thatfocused on learning and practicing typing-keys as part of theirinstrucLional approach with these students.

Another "normal" function of microcomputers that was viewedto have special benefits for handicapped students was wordprocessing. In Cheyenne, word processing was taught to regularhigh school students to improve their writing/composition skillsin English and journalism classes. However, a junior highschool special education teacher, whb knew about the success ofthe high school project, also introduced word processing (BankStreet Writer) with her LD,students. She felt that wordprocessing was extremely helpful with these students whoseprevious writing had been characterized by failure and frustra-

tion. The microcomputer was a nonthreatening tutor, and specialfeatures (spelling checks, ability to correct errors) encouragedthe students'to improve their writing and reading.

Conclusion

The implementation of microcomputers in special educationwas accompanied by considerable collaboration between specialand regular education personnel. This collaboration was mostevident at the building (rather than district) level, wherespecial and regular education teachers shared microcomputerresources (hardware and software) and participated equally in

2q

22

coordination and training activities.

Across the systems studied, an examination of the training

offered, and the features of inservice that were best received,disclosed no differences between that provided to regular or to

special educators. Both groups had some complaints about the

microcomputer equipment and software, but their suggestions andcriticisms were generally similar. If anything, specialeducation and remedial education (such as basic skills) teacherswere more pleased and made more use of the microcomputers than

other teachers (except for secondary math/computer science

staff) .

Finally, there were few examples of unusual or special uses

of microcomputers with handicapped students. For the most part,

CAI applications with special and regular education students

were highly similar--in terms of equipment, methods, and

preparation. At the same time, the few instances of special

applications (communication aide) or adaptations (modified

keyboards) were recognized as highly effective by users; and the

selection of cases did not include special schools for the

severely handicapped, which may have established a wider array

of special applications.

The purposive selection of case study sites did not permit

inclusion of special school systems for the severely handicapped

or of small microcomputer systems (within regular districts)

that concentrated on unusual or specialized adaptations of

microcomputers. Microprocessor technology offer's great

potential usefulness in this area--providing special solutions

to the needs of students with major disabilities (Vanderheiden,

1982). The current investigation documented the growth and

efficacy of more typical microcomputer applications with special

education students who, for the most part, were receiving their

educational services in regular elementary and secondary public

schools. In the future, introduction of more advanced and

specialized microcomputer applications should increase theopportunities for more handicapped students to participate in

the educational mainstream.

23

IV. SUPERVISING THE MICROCOMPUTERSFROM THE TOP DOWN, OR THE BOTTOM UP?

Because a microcomputer is a small, self-standing unit, it

can be adopted by a single classroom or by a school building.Alternatively, several microcomputer units can be purchased by adistrict administration and placed in school buildings. -1

-As a result of these options and their variations, animportant issue about microcomputers in schools is whether acentralized approach (i.e., district control) is more or lessadvantageous than a decentralized approach (i.e., classroom or

building control). Such a choice is one of the distinctivecharacteristics of microcomputer systems, due to the fact that'earlier computer systems--such as on-line terminals linked tominicomputers or mainframe computers--frequently did not allow

the same decentralized option.

Defining Supervisory Patterns

To examine this issue, the case study protocol called forcareful documentation of the precise supervisory patterns ineach district. Several activities were traced, to determinewhich staff made the following types of decisions:"

The decision to purchase microcom-puters;

The allocation of microcomputers to

specific classrooms;

The review and purchase of softwarefor the microcomputers; and

The arrangements, if any, for train-ing of microcomputer users.

The more these decisions were in the hands of district staff,the more that the microcomputer system was regarded as acentralized (top-down) system; the more these decisions were in

the hands of erincipals and teachers, the more the system wasregarded as a decentralizeo (bottom -up) system.

In tracing these activities, one complication was that the

decision-making patterns could change over,tiAle. This occurred

in most of the case studies, with key persdhnel--e.g., as the

3i

24

person ultimately serving as a "microcomputer coordinator"- -shifting from one level to another (e.g., Commack), or withsupervision over the microcomputers gradually shifting from onelevel to another (e.g., Hopkins). However, in only two of thedistOctA,were such changes on the more drastic side. In one

(Cheyene)--, the microcomputers were originally supervised in amore decentralized manner, with the district staff playing aminimal role in coordinating purchases and utilization at thebuilding level; however, the district has gradually assertedmore control by appointing a coordinator and, in-the past year,the Superintendent called for a freeze on all microcomputerpurchases so that the entire system could be reviewed. In the

other (Pittsburg), the microcomputers have shifte\in theopposite direction, with the teaching and building lstaffs being

more active now than before.

For the other ten districts that were studied,"however,there was a generally consistent pattern of centralized ordecentralized supervision, summarized in Table IV-1. As thetable indicates, six of the ten districts are currentlyorga94-ted on a centralized basis, four on a decentralized basis,and two have followed the changing pattern noted above. This

cross-case pattern isrevealing, even on a descriptive levelalone, as an initial conclusion is that:

No pattern of centralization or decen-tralization dominated the supervisionof microcomputers in the twelve casestudies.

Furthermore, our suspicion is that this type of diversityprobably exists throughout other school districts across the

country.

Examples of Different Supervisory Patterns

A typical centralized pattern of supervision arises whenthe superintendent or other district-level staff person has anearly role in adopting and implementing the microcomputersystem. The initial interest may have come from this level orfrom the building level, but the district staff takes theleadership in all phases of managing the new microcomputersystem--i.e., allocating the units to different buildings orclassrooms, scheduling training, and reviewing and purchasing

software. Moreover, the district staff is 'then involved.infurther purchases of new microcomputers in subsequent years, asthe system grows. Among the case studies, this most centralizedpattern was found in Tallulah, Lexington, and Oakhurst.

32

DISTRICT

25

Table IV-1

MICROCOMPUTER SUPERVISION PATTERNS

T e of Supervisory Pattern.

Centralized1

Decentralized S stem Chanin.

Abingdon

Boise

Cheyenne

Commack

Hopkins

Lexington

Linden

Oakhurst

Pittsburg

Prescott

Shelby

Tallulah

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

. X.c

X

X

-

.../*Th

X .

X

ti 26

A decentralized pattern can also involve district staff,but at most in an approval capacity only Thus, a group ofteachers and their principal may have the initial interest in

adopting a microcomputer; the district staff may help toidentify the. available funds, but the entire supervision of theunits and their use)then occurs at the building level. The

funds, as in one case (Abingdon), may be "project-specific"(e.g., ESEA Title IV-C), and the microcomputers will be usedwithin the context of a sp:kific, time-limited project (e.g.,

for three years). In thib sense, the district staff haveparticipated in adoption only, and the system is largely outsideof their control once it has been purchased.

Both the centralized and decentralized patterns can havetheir disadvantages. A centralized pattern, In the later years,can lead to situations in which the microcomputers are purchasedand assigned with little regard to the needs or training, of theteaching or building staff. In one centralized case, for

instance, the microcomputer use has not necessarily, been closely

integrated with daily lesson plans (Prescott).

Similarly, under the decentralized pattern, the subsequent

growth of the system may be sporadic. Other microcomputers maybe purchased, but only if another group of teachers takes-theinitiative; and if these teachers represent different curriculum

topics, the type of microcomputer hardware or software may bequite different from those purchased initially. This patternemerged clearly in one school district (Shelby), with the result

that the district has-most recently felt the need for acentralized, coordinating committee to reassess the purchasingand allocation processtrdue to complaints about incompatible

units and excessive diversity. Excessive diversity of hardwarewas also found under another decentralized pattern in Cheyenne,

to the point that the hardware incompatibility has interferedwith distritt efforts to provide system-wide inservice training.

A secondary sense in which centralization/decentralizationis important is in the physical location of the microcomputerunits, and not just their organizational supervision. Physl

ically, a centralized pattern would have a large number of unitslocated in the same room, typically a computer lab or a mediacenter (e.g., Linden). This room can then be scheduled for useby different classes, or it can be made available on a sharedbasis to individual students who are sent to the room by their

teachers. A decentralized pattern would have one or a fewmicrocomputer units located in individual classrooms, under thedirect control of the classroom teacher. One variant of this

pattern is to have the microcomputers on mobile carts (e.g.,Prescott and Commack), which are rotated to different classrooms

on different school days.

27

The different physical layouts have organizationalimplications regarding the centralized or decentralized control

over the microcomputers-within a school build-ing.--Among_thecases, no single pattern prevailed; moreover, the same districtor building often encouraged the development of multiplepatterns, whele sufficient numbers of microcomputer units wereavailable. Thus, the. resource rooms for special education wereatypical place where microcomputers were located, but this did

not preclude additional units from being located in otherindividual classrooms or in -a media center.

Overall, in neither the organizational or physical sense,

was there a consistent patter of centralization or7decentralization. Whether a district follows one pattern or theother may in part be determined by the degree to which theschool district has been centralized or decentralized*raditionally. If the district has been traditionallydecentralized, the adoption and implementation of themicrocomputer system will follow the same pattern, and ifdeviations are attempted, conflicts may arise. In Cheyenne, forinstance, the microcomputers have become a potential source of

struggle. The school buildings have taken the major initiatives

in adopting and implementing various microcomputer units but thedistrict has attempted to impose a certain degree ofcoordination and control to assure more effective utilization.Under such circumstances, the accession and implementationprocess may later be slowed down, as with the moratorium on newpurchases that was declared in Cheyenne in the spring of 1982.

Does the Pattern Make a Difference?

The cases hasce clearly followed different patterns, withneither centralization nor decentalization dominant.Furthermore, neither pattern appears to have clear advantages ordisadvantages under all circumstances. What this begins tosuggest is that the centralized and decentralized dimension, perse, may not be as important to .the growth and utilization of themicrocomputers as other factors.

For instance, rrdless of the organizational pattern,

Perso s with key characteristics seemto be present as microcomputer use be-comes more widespread within a district:teaching experience and control overadministrative resources.'

28

The first characteristic appears to be some recent orcurrent teaching exrerience. The handful of persons beginningto serve as microcomputer "coordinators," for instance, include-staff-persoits-who-have-either-been-teaching within the _recent . .

past or are still teaching part-time, even if their formalpositions are now located at the district level. The teaching

skill appears to e invaluable in assuring the appropriateintegration of mi rocomputer use within the classroom and daily

lesson'plans.

-The second characteristic appears to be some control over

administrative resources. Whether this nerson is a Superinten-dent, an assistant superintendent, or even a building principal,the skill is needed to support strongly the initial adoptiondecisions and to rearrange the necessary administrative proce-dures as implementation proceeds, including the revision ofschedules, the provision of time for inservice training, andeven the' reallocation of physical space. In one case (Commack),for instance, an elementary school principal had to move wallsto make room for a small computer lab.

Together, persons with the two skills may work as a formal

or informal group, and the group may or may not be at. the

district level. The person(s) with the teaching skill helps toidentify relevant training and technical assistance proceduresas well as the acquisition or development of appropriatesoftware. The person(s) with the control over administrativeresources assures that sustained resources are made availablefor subsequent purchases of microcomputers or software. This

tandem combination can operate within,both centralized anddecentralized patterns and was found in a large proportion ofthe cases (Lexington, Hopkins, Prescott, Pittsburg, Commack, and

Oakhurst).

Microcomputers and Mainframe or Mini-Computers

Related to centralization and decentralization is a second

issue that received only peripheral attention in the case

studies. This issue followed the notion that, among computertechnologies, microcomputers represent an inherentlydecentralized technology in comparison to the traditionalmainframe or even minicomputer. Thus, each microcomputer unithas "stand-alone" capabilities and can be used and relocated indirect relation to a user's needs. Mainframe or minicomputers,in contrast, are centrally controlled and scheduled, but offer amuch larger computing capability. The issue was whether anyclear patterns of coordination or conflict were emerging amongthese systems in any of our cases..

In fact, me functional distinctionj.were emerging, but

36

29

only with a typically trial-and-error pattern. Minoradministrative tasks that can be done on microcomputers--e.g.,the establishment of a class list of students or of a mailing

list of parents--were found in several of the districts (seeSection V _of this report for a full description) where suchfunctions might have been 'done by the mainframe or minicomputer

in the past. With the microcomputers, these tasks appeared to

be more satisfactorily conducted, in relation to the user's

needs. Similarly, certain kinds of instructional applicationsthat had been done on on-line terminals with a mainframe (e.g.,Commack) were now more readily performed on microcomputers, and

at lower cost. At the same time, large-scale data reporting oranalysis (e.g., payroll, student records, student reporting)were functions generally perceived as more appropriate forlam er computer systems.

To this extent, the different computer technologies may all

have different niches in the range of functions found in amoderately, sized school district. Under such circumstances, it

may even be better to have different computer systems for

different functions, as such se aration increases the security

of all of the systems, and also es each function its rightful

priority. A system totally dedica ed to payroll, districtpersonnel, and student grades, f instance, would be moresecure if no other functions were integrated into the same'system, and at the same time would not interfere with theconduct of the other functions (which would have their own

compdter systems).

Organizationally, the evolution of these differentfunctional patterns are likely to proceed with some care and

deliberation. How the coordination and leadership is exercised

will vary from district to district, but it is unlikely that

either the microcomputer systems or the mainframe (orminicomputer) systemt will entire dominate the whole range of

district functions. This real' a on has emerged, in part, in

one case (Prescott) where the supervisor of the mainframe

computer has gladly encourag d the transfer of certain functions

to the microcomputers.

In spite of this potential long-term complementarity ofdifferent computer systems, conflicts did arise in two cases as

the microcomputer systems were adopted and expanded. In

Oakhurst, the director of data processing voiced some concern

over planned administrative use of microcomputers. He believed

that such applications would produce inefficiecies andredundancies with the existing mainframe- service offered by his

department. In Lexington, the data processing departmentlargely ignored the initial adoption and growth Of themicrocomputer system, and is only now beginning,--to understand

that the commitment of resources to the microcomputers may be a

30

threat to the'Inicomputer system in the future.

Conclusion

Both the centralized (top-down) and decentralized (bottom-up) patterns of supervision of microcomputers were found in thecase studies. ire important than the issue of the relativemerits of th se approaches was the finding that the microcompu-ter systems being used successfully tended to depend on supportfrom-two different levels--someone acquainted with teaching

concerns and another person who could provide the neededadministrative support. This team of skills was invaluableduring the implementation of the new microcomputers, includingarrangements for training, decisions and monitoring regardingthe actual location of the microcomputers, and general review of

software acquisition.

.The role of this implementing team is not to be confused

with that of the adopting team. One proposition for futurestudy is that, whereas the decision to purchase new micro-computers may be best put in the hands of a larger committee(representing different interests) or in the hands of a teacher-dominated project team (representing the project directors for aproject-specific award), larger-scale implementation requiresthe mix of teaching and administrative support noted above, butwithin a small group of two to three persons. In other words,

larger. committees may not be efficient mechanisms for deal*pg

with implementation issues, and teacher-dominated project teams

may not have the administrative support needed expand

microcomputer use beyond the initial 'project.

31

V. ADMINISTRATIVE AND INSTRUCTIONAL APPLICATIONS:COMPETITIVE OR COMPLEMENTARY?

Introduction

As more microcomputers are used in school districts, thenumber of instructional and administrative applicationsincrease. The balance of resources between these two types ofapplications can affect the growth and stability of the entiremicrocomputer system. Therefore, an important issue examined bythe case studies was the integration of instructional andadministrative applications within the same microcomputersystem.

School districts have generally considered instructionalapplications to be more important than administrative ones.However, a common debate is whether administrative applicationstend to complement or compete with the instructional uses. Somepeople view administrative uses as eventually dominating acomputer system and displacing the instructional applications.Others feel that the addition of administrative applications canlead to greater district support of a computer system, with the,eventual allocation of more resources to both types of uses.

Whether this debate is applicable to microcomputer systems,as well, was one topic investigated by the case studies. The

cases were deliberately selected to repretent some districtswith administrative applications only, with instructionalapplications only, or with both types of uses. The goal was tocompare these types over time--i.e., to see whether there wasany evidence that the adMinistrative applications weredisplacing instructional ones, or whether they were producingincreased support for the entire microcomputer system.

Defining Instructional and Administrative Applications

The case study protocol called for determining the degreeto which the microcomputers wee initially adopted for instruc-tional or administrative use. In documenting the adoption ofmicrocomputers in a school district, the case study focused onthe initial purp,se and justification for the use of microcom-puters. Therefore, the initial design of the system was tracedto determine whether there was a favoring of eitherinstructional or administrative uses, with regard to the

foll ing priorities:

32

the physical location of the micro-computers;

accessibility of the units to admi-nistrative staff and teaching staff;

the allocation of hardware resources;

scheduling of microcomputer time; and

the acquisition of software.

Also, in conducting the case studies, the major applica-tions in each school distric't were identified and enumerated asbeing either instructional or administrative. The followingcriteria served as the basis for categorizing each application:

the subject matter;

the dominant type of users;

the proportion of microcom-puter hours used; and

the name and type of software.

Typical examples of instructional applications in the

school districts were: computer literacy, computer programming,

and computer-assisted instruction (including drill-and-practice

exercises), simulations, problem-solving, and skill games. In

addition, the use of microcomputers for word processing to

. develop students' written skills was found in several school

districts.

The most frequently found Administrative applications were

at the school building level and included student scheduling,

grade reporting, attendance reporting, test score data, and

student information records. 'Microcomputers also perfoKmedadminiStrative functions at the district level, such as payroll

preparation, accounting, data collection, student records,personnel files, and production of education reports. The major

applications in each school district are displayed in Table V-1.

Based on the priorities and the types of microcomputerapplications, the microcomputers were categorized as being for

instructional applications only, for administrative applicationsonly, or for both. In nine of the twelve cases, microcomputers

were initially used for instructional activities only. In one

40

33

Table V-1

MICROCOMPUTER APPLICATIONS(Applications and Grade Level of System Studied)

angdon Scnool District

ah instruction drill and practice(h.s. special ed.)oputer Literac., program (7th gradegifted /talented),ngramming course(h.s.)

mice school District.

1S/E programming (elem. giftedtalented)'sic skills instructional programs(elem special ed.)computer literacy (elem. giftedtalented)tventory in food services trainingProgram (h.s. special ed.)'sic skills, drill and practice,and games (jr. high special ed.):tool transportation (Bus; scheduling

levenne School District

laic skills. drill and practice,and reading comprehension (elem.):udent records (jr. high principal)'SIC programming (jr. high)3rd processing for school newspaperand compositions (h.s.)'sic skills instruction (h.s.special ed.)

oMmack School District

ills skill's, instruction and multi-sensory, interactive games(elem. special ed.)

ard procaasing and graphics (Jr.Fig:), special ed.)MN programming (elem. giftedhandicapped))GO and Turtle programming (firstgrade)tuft= records, inventories, budgetsAnd personnel records

Hopkios School District

Library inventory crid check-outsystem (elem.)

Basic skills, drill and practicereading comprehension (elem.)

Special education student recordsand tracking (elem. 6 h.s.)

Advanced programming (h.s )

Financial planningBasic skills instruction with CX1

(elem. special ed.)LOGO and Turtle programming

(elem. 6 jr. high)

*Lexington Regional District

Financial planning and budgets(superintendent)

Student test records (h.s. teachers)Tutorial instruction in chemistry,

biology. and physics (h.s.)Design and drafting of blueprints

in building trades department (h.s.)Basic skill instruction (h.s.

special ed.)

Linden School District

Basic skills. drill and practice(elem. 6 jr. hign special ed.)

School District

Hasid skills instruction, drill andpractice, and games (h.s. teacher)

Introductory programming and computerliteracy (elem. 6 Jr. high gifted/talented)

Advanced programming (h.s.)Tutorial instruction in Spanish and

French (h.s.)Student records

Bittspurr Schou: :isirtzl

Attendance recorns ,n.s. prindital,Student data rec.-_.rd

guidance direct=Equipmen: inventor. (n.s. voiational

directcr)Basic skills instruiticr (h.s.

stecia: ed.Comnuter Itter.._... .....

(h.s.

*Prescott Sdnool Disirli:

Beginning and acvandec proira.t-ming Courses (h.s..

Computer literal: (-tn-7tt. grades)Basic skills instrudzion .elem.

snecial ec.Student reccrds and tlatehen:

files (h.s. 'earner,individual Eduzaii:ha: Vccationa:Plans (h.s. zeadner

OSnelh% School Discrlit

Staff informaticr anc evaluationfiles (elem. prIndtpal

Student grades (elem. teadher.Self-directed programming course

(fan grade'Introductory programming. usinghigh-resolutidn grachidshigh gifted'ialented.

Basic skills, drill and rrattiiEprogram with .elem.

special ed.)

Tallulah School District

Special ed. forms and manualsRecords of Individual Education.

Plan (I.E.P.) conferencesCommunications and mailings tc

parentsComprehensive. special ed.

student tracking system:student data record files

District inventory of materialsand supplies

Accountings budgeting

34

of the cases adoption was for administrative applications onlyand in two districts the microcomputers were for mixed (bothinstructional and administrative) applications. Table V-2presents the distribution of the twelve cases.

Initial Patterns of Use

In school districts that began with microcomputers dedicated only to instructional applications, the earliest users wertypically teachers or staff persons. __These_ persons usuallybecame interested in the instructional potential of microcom-puters and had acquired a unit for their classrooms (e.gAbingdon, Boise, Cheyenne, Linden, Prescott, Shelby). Thisinitial interest in the educational uses of microcomputers theset the pattern and direction for other teachers to acquiremicrocomputers for instructional use. Only later in the procedid the district administration become involved in the implemetation of the microcomputers, based on the teachers' growinginterests, requests for equipment, and needs for technical

assistance and training.

In other cases (Lexington, Oakhurst), the initial intereEin adopting the new technology was generated at the districtlevel, but the emphasis still was on acquiring microcomputersfor instructional use. The districts would either securefunding and resources for acquiring the units and software to

meet individual teachers' requests (e.g., Boise, Cheyenne,Shelby), or make bulk purchases of units and distribute them t

schools or individual teachers (e.g., Prescott, Commack,Oakhurst). In one district ,(Lexington) microcomputers wereallocated to teachers only after they had demonstrated potent:

uses. In another site (Oakhurst), teachers received microcom-puters only after completing a training course on computer

operations.

In the school district with microcomputers for administrztive purposes only (Tallulah), the initial adopter, a districtlevel administrator, was interested in the business capabilit.of the microcomputer and secured the funding and approval forunit in his office.

In the planned mixed systems (Pittsburg, Hopkins), theinitial adopter or planning group investigated the administrative as well as the instructional benefits of the microcom-4;

puters. Consequently, both sets of applications were taken i

consideration When making the first purchase and allocation

decipions. In both districts, the first microcomputerspurdhased were allocated specifically to either instructionaladministrative use, and resources for software were allocatedsupport both types of applications.

istricts

35

Table V-2

Microcomputer Systems: Patterns of Use

Applications:Initial Adoptionof System

Applications:Present System

bingdon Instructional Instructional

oise Instructional Mixed

heyenne Instructional Mixed

ommack Instructional Mixed

opkins Mixed Mixed

exington Instructional Mixed

dnden Instructional Instructional

)akhurst Instructional Mixed

'ttsburg Mixed Mixed

'rescott Instructional Mixed

;helby Instructional Mixed

Tallulah Administrative Administrative

36

How Did Patterns of Use Change?

These initial patterns of use changed over time and aresummarized in Table V-2. Of the nine school districts with

microcomputer systems initially devoted to instructional uses ,

only, seven later expanded to include administrative applica-

tions. Thus, as the microcomputer system grew to meet different

needs and more users, administrative uses were also added. Of

these six, the administrative uses gradually evolved at the

school building level among teachers and principals. Usually, ,

the administrative use has been limited to grade reports,scheduling, attendance, test scoring, equipment inventories, and

curriculum development.

In two districts (Cheyenne, Prescott), administrativeapplications emerged together with the creation of newdistrict-level positiOns--i.e., microcomputer coordinator or

specialist. Persons in these positions acquired units as part

of their services and supported other users by reviewing andcataloging software, writing new programs and adapting existing

ones, maintaining equipment inventories, and purchasing

information. In several districts (Lexington, Shelby, Oakhurst,Cheyenne, and Prescott), one or more microcomputers wereallocated to a district-level or principal's office to be used

exclusively for administrative purposes. For example, inLexington, the Superintendent acquired a microcomputer for his

office, which he has used for budget projections and reports.

The two districts that began with both administrative and

instructional applications (Hopkins, Pittsburg) continued to

grow and expand, with the addition of more units and software

programs for both types-of uses. In Pittsburg, the allocationof resources has assured the growth of administrative and

instructional applications at approximately the same rate. To

secure the continued development of both instructional and

administrative use in Hopkins, two positions have been

created--one to concentrate on instructional a'plications and

the other to assist the implementation of ad ddstrative ones.

However, in two districts originally having instructional-only microcomputer systems, little expansion of the originalmicrocomputer system has vccured.: In these districts (Abingdon,

Linden), the microcomputer system has been restricted to

instructional applications either through local interpretationof federal project guidelines or by district limitations. Both

Abingdon and Linden secured microcomputers through federal

projects. The grant proposals specified the exact allocation ofhardware, types of applications, and dominant users of the

microcomputers. In both cases, the microcomputer system has not

37

expanded beyond the original project guidelines in terms of

applications or additional units.

Similarly, in the district with administrative applicationsonly (Tallulah), the microcomputer system has not addedinstructional applications, as the system has not grown beyondits original two units and one user for administrative purposes.

It is interesting to note then, that:

the instructional-only and adminis-trative-only microcomputer systemsthat have not changed over time tobecome mixed systems are also thosethat have not grown or expanded interms of either the number of unitsor additional applications.

This observation can be explained by the fact thatmicrocomputer systems have not expanded either their base of

users (to cover staff turnover) or their tasks of applications(to extend beyond a single project). Consequently, themicrocomputer systems do not have the same growth potential and

may be more vulnerable than systems having both types ofapplications.

For example, in Abingdon the future direction and use ofthe microcomputer system for special education students isuncertain, due to the scheduled termination of the federal

project. With the project director's position ending, no onehas been delegated the responsibility of managing themicrocomputer system or determining its use. Similarly, theadministrative-only microcomputer system in Tallulah is

'especially vulnerable to staff turnover, because the knowledgeof computer operations and the software programs is limited to a

single individual. In fact, one district with administrative-only applications was eliminated from our original case studysites because the microcomputer system had fallen into disuseupon the departure of toe primary adopter and user, just beforeselecting sites for the case study.

The Coordination of Instructional/Administrative Use

To the extent that both instructional and administrativeapplications exist in the same microcomputer system, it is

important to determine whether the districts developed anycoordinating procedures or strategies. Thus, the case studiesdocumented -any evidence of such procedures as those for:

45

38

resource allocation between uses;

allocation of microcomputer units;

scheduling of time on microcomputers

identifying specific users.

Among the districts, those with currently mixed (instruc-tional and administrative) microcomputer use followed differentstrategies to coordinate the applications. Two school districts(Commack, Oakhurst), starting out with microcomputers forinstructional uses, decided to purchase separate microcomputerunits for the administrative applications. In Commack, adeliberate decision was made to purchase different hardware, toavoid any conflict between the two types.of uses. A differentexample is Tallulah, where the microcomputer system studied hasremained exclusively administrative, but the district hasadopted an entirely separate system (di*fferent hardware brands)for instructional purposes. The installation of separatesystems for adminstrativ.e and instructional, uses precludes anysharing of the microcomputers, which in turn avoids conflictsbetween the different applications.

In other school districts, the same microcomputers are used

for both administrative and instructional applications, with'coordination between the two evolving inforMally among the

users. Several districts (Prescott, Lexington, Cheyenne) haveenough microcomputer units and other resources so that the useof §ome'units for administration does not hamper or curtail the

instructional use. Resources such as software, equipment, and

training are allocated to the teachers and staff persons tosupport both instructional and administrative interests in the

microcomputers.

Conflict between the two types of uses has been avoided in

some districts by having teachers and staff persons schedule anyadministiative use during times when there is not student use.

In one district (Pittsburg), a teacher had the students involvedin his administrative applications by having them enter data,update files, and adapt business software, as practical learningexperience on the computer.

39

Conclusion

None of the twelve cases offers any evidence to suggestthat there is .a conflict between administrative and instruc-tional applications in.microcomputer systems. Furthermore,there a possibility that the two types of applications arepomplementary, as neither instructional-only norAdministrative-only systems have grown and expanded as readilyas mixed systems.

-Districts with mixed systems have developed differentcoordination strategies and procedures to manage both types ofapplications, in order to reduce the possibility of competitionor conflict. Some districts have chosen to allocate separateunits to the two types of uses; other districts have used thesame microcomputers for both administrative and instructionalapplications. Both coordination strategies have resulted insimilar growth and stability of the microcomputer systems.

Furthermore, microcomputer units used for bothadministrative and instructional applications are not at thistime dominated by the administrative ones or displacing anyinstructional use. In part, this can be explained by the factthat administrative use tends to grow gradually and is limitedto only a few users. Consequently, it is not likely that adistrict's demands ,for administrative,microcomputer use will

drace ahead of the number of units. Also, a single microcomputerand several software packages can serve many administrativeneeds.

When administrative use does reach the level where theremay be competition with instructional applications, thenadditional units can be designated. This flexibility may bedifferent from earlier experiences with computer systems in

schools, in which the number of on-line terminals orthe amountof computing time was limited. With microcomputer systems,additional units can be added, as the system as a whole can growin an incremental fashion.

41

VL. TRAINING AND EMERGING STAFF ROLESFOR MICROCOMPUTER IMPLEMENTATION

Training

The literature on the implementation of microcomputers inschool systems stresses the importance of training for teachersand other staff if they are to be able to use microcomputerseffectively (Cobu'rn et al., 1982, Taber, 1983). Teachers mustknow how to operate the microcomputer, how to select, evaluateand run software, and how to manage the microcomputer. This isnecessary to effectively integrate the technology into theclassroom. Thus, it may be argued that training is essentialnot only for successfdl implementation but also for subsequentgrowth of the microcomputer system to occur.

For the purposes of this study, trainin7 was defined asorganized, inservice, group instruction. This could haveincluded a multiplier approach, in which the individuals trainedwere required to train others. However, totally individualinstruction, such as one-to-one technical assistance, was notconsidered training.

Examples of Training The case studies documented thetraining activities for planners and users of the microcomputersystems in 12 school districts. Table VI-1 shows the trainingprovided in each district. Six districts (Cheyenne, Commack,Hopkins, Lexington, Oakhurst, and Prescott) were all consideredto have offered major resources for training. The other sixdistricts had the following experiences.

In two cases (Boise and/Pittsburg), the microcomputer'systems were considered to be in a transition stage. In

Pittsburg, the users of the existing 14 microc puters were selftaught or had received individualized technic- assistance fromthe system coordinator. The district was beg nning to implementformal training in anticipAtion of additional microcomputerpurchases. Training was being offered to teachers who as yetihad no computers and, in effect, was being conducted during a

puter in Boise were purchased within the last year, and appli-stage. Similarly, four of the 13 microcom-

capkons on these were just being implemented. The primary re-source in Boise was individual technical assistance, although a'I)training program had been initiated for teachers in thegifted/talented program.

In .a third case, Tallulah, only the administrativemicrocomputer system was studied. The major operator of thesystem was self-taught. In the remaining three districts

46

42

Table VI-1

Inservice Training for Microcomputer Implementation:

Districts with Major Inservice Resources

District Format Content Areas Covered

Cheyenne District WorkshopsTRS-80 and AppleUsers Groups-

Building LevelInservice

Evening Courses(sponsored bystudent group)

Introduction to ComputerOperations r,

BASIC ProgrammingSoftware Adaptations .

Computer LiteracyWord Processing

.

Commack District InserviceCourse Open toAll Staff

District Inservicefor Administra-tors

Building LevelInservice

Computer Awareness andOperations

BASIC ProgrammingIntegration of Computers

into the ClassroomAdvanced BASIC ProgrammingWord ProcessingComputer Graphics

pkins District InserviceBuilding Level

Inservice

Beginning BASICIntermediate BASICComputers in the ClassroomUse of Computers for

"Cooperative Learning"Advanced Programming

Lexington District (onebuilding) In-service .

Microcomputer OperationEvaluation/Selection of

SoftwareLesson DevelopmentInstructional ApplicationsAdministrative ApplicationsComputer AwarenessProgramming

Oakhurst District Inservicefor All Staff

District Inservicefor SpecialEducation

Introduction/Orien.ation to\ the Microcompute s,,EvaluatIng Commerc z1 SoftWareBASIC/Programming.Adva ced Programming

Prescott District Inservice---er

L___.

Introducti n to ComputersComputer Li eracyComputer Pro amming

41&

4 3

Table VI-1

Inservice Training for Microcomputer Implementation:

District with Minimal Inservice Resources

District.

Format1

Contant Areas Covered\

Abingdon Group Training forTitle IV ProjectParticipants(Spec. Ed.) only

,

Basic 'introduction to ComputerRunning Project Software and

BASIC programs

Boise District Inservicefor Gifted/Talen-ted Teachers

Building LevelInservi.ce forSpecial /Education

Using Computer as Instruc-tional Tool

Computer Literacy.

Linden

.

Group Training forTitle IV ProjectParticipants(Spec. Ed.) only

Use of Project SoftwareComputer Literacy

Pittsburg District Inservice Introduction to Micro-computers

Shelby District Inservicefor ProjectParticipants

Building LevelInservice

Computer Literacy

Tallulah (None - Administra-tive System only)

44

(Abingdon, Linden, Shelby), minimal training had been provided.

In Abingdon and in Linder, the training content was limited to

Title IV-C project objectives and was offered to project

participants only.

When Does Training Make a Difference? It was anticipated

that the level of training available would be associated with

the growth of the microcomputer system. The case studies

examined the validity of this assumption. Growth was defined as

a rate of increase in the number of microcomputers in the

system, together with the increase of users, expansion of..---,

applications, and diversification and Rfficiency of microco-puter use.

1

I/

,

The patterns for growth in numbers of microcomputers for

each district are summarized in Table VI-2. In threepf the

districts (Abingdon, Linden, and Shelby) the initiak.O.irchase of ke

microcomputers was for pilot special education projects. The

federal project in Abingdon was expanded to include an

additional computer lab in a second school, resulting in an

increase in the number of computers and 'users. Although the

project did not expressly limit the app ications to those

originally intended, there was no expan ion of applications

beyond those for which the teachers had been trained. Shelby

was an example of a system where growth in the number ofmicrocomputers had outstripped the training opportunities. Some

teachers received computers because federal funding was

available even though they did not request them. Some teachers

with microcomputers reported that they did not know how to

operate them. A moratorium was placed on additional'microcomputer purchases and a committee was established to

assess the microcomputer curriculum.

For the remaining districts (Cheyenne, Commack, Hopkins,

Lexington, Oakhurst, PresCott), two clear patterns emerged.

First, all demonstrated steadily or rapidly growingmicrocomputer systems and also offered major resources for

training teachers and administrgtors during the implementation

stage. A combination of group training opportunities were made

available, as well as the assistance of district or building

level microcomputer experts or computer coordinators for

itional help and information. Major training opportunities

in ed district organized inservice training on a variety of

topics and levels, offered n a continuous basis (e.g., Hopkins,

Commack., Prescott). In addt tion, user orientation, building

inservice, parent inservice, classes by local universities,

school clubs and user groups, and individual technical _

assistance by a computer coordinator/expert were also available.

The second pattern that emerged was different from prior

expectations regarding growth and training. It had been

2

45

GROWTH PATTERNS

Districts withMajor Resourcesfor Training

Table VI- 2

FOR MICROCOMPUTER SYSTEMS

Total Number ofMicrocomputers in SystemBy 1979 By 1983

Cheyenne 4 130

Commack 10 46

Hopkins 1 123

Lexington 2 22

Oakhurst 14 40

Prescott 298

Districts inTransition

Boise 4 12

Pittsburg 4 14

Districts withFew Resourcesfor Training

Abing on 4 23

Linden 3 15

Shelby 5 18

Tallula 1 2

46

anticipated that where training had been planned and offeredduring the start-up or pre-implementation phase, smoother and

more rapid growth would/take place. However, analysis of the

case studies disclosed that group training was not a critical

factor during the start-up phase. Rather, this phase wascharacterized by individual technical assistance, orientation,and exploration. This form of instruction appeared to satisfyuser needs for the first few microcomputers in the system.However, individual technical assistance limits the grc\wth,of

the system. The .technical assistant can only train one or twoindividuals at a time, thereby taking longer to reach all the

users within the system. When the system expands beyond six toten microcomputers, the train4ng needs of the increased numberof users require formal training to be established.

Three districts (Oakhurst, Lexington, and Hopkins) didoffer inservice training to users during the start-up phase. In

these cases the training appeared to be extremely useful inestablishing interest in and awareness of the microcomputer

system. In fact, in one district (Oakhurst) a policy decisionwas made in the planning stages that microcomputers would not bedistributed to the teachers until they had undergone enoughtraining to enable them to use the microcomputers properly. In

another site (Lexington), teachers were required to develop a-plan demonstrating how they would use the computers in theirclassroom as justification for receiving one.

The case sttdies also investigated the effect of thequality of training on the use of the microcomputer. "Quality"

training was perceived by users to mean relevancy of _trainingtopics, and compatibility between the equipment used in trainingand the equipment accessible to users. District training whichemphasized basic orientation to microcomputers and directapplications in the classroom seemed most pbpular and was often

oversubscribed.

In contrast, initial training efforts werz less successfulwhen the objective was to teach participants how to program(Cheyenne, Oakhurst). The introductory courses were subse-quently changed to cover issues of more immediate relevance:microcomputer use and operations (loading and running programs);integrating computers with the curriculum, authoring systems,word processing, and evaluating software. Some districta(Hopkins, Cheyenne) did offer advanced level.progralming courseswhich were well attended. However, these courses'were part of a

continuum of beginning and intermediate level inservice trainingthat had been offered in previous years. As users demonstrated

more technological sophistication, the need for advanced level

courses including programming and languages evolved,

The history of microcomputer implementation in Cheyenne

illustrated the need for "quu ty" training. Cheyenne had 130microcomputers, which included fi different brands, andvarious models of each. The district's initial efforts attraining focused on programm:ng These efforts werehindered because the trainit19 lent did not match equipmentavailable to users within each bui ling. At that time,programming courses were too adval),_,J for teachers' experienceand interest, and were undersubs^1:,ed. Subsequently, two ofthe initial users of microcomputers in the district began aseries of Saturday morning workshops for a basic introduction tomicrocomputers, oriented towards TRS-80 or Apple users. Thedistrict now sponsors workshops which include an introduction tocomputer operations, BASIC programming, and methods for adaptingsoftware to meet user needs. Advanced level programming is nowavailable with high school students as instructors.

The pattern for training during the successfulimplementation of microcomputers in a school district appearedto follow a distinct sequence. The adoption of the first fewmicrocomputers was usually initiated by computer enthusiasts,often self - trained or intrinsically self-motivated enough toseek training on their own. As new users became involved, the

initial adopters were able to provide technical assistance to

them. The informal tutoring and sharing of information createdthe setting for others to become interested, but at the sametime did not compound any fear or resistance to change that someteachers may have had.

As the new users increased, however, this expansion createda demand for more formal training beyond the reach of a singleadopter. At this stage more formal training was required, andneeded to cover a basic introduction to microcomputers as wellas information on how to integrate them into the classroom.

Separate Training for Special Education Teachers. Acrossthe.case studies, tne content of training and course objectivesappeared to be equally relevant and applicable for both regularand special education. In other words, techniques and knowledgerequired to use the microcomputers did not differ betweenregular and special education users. (The software used byspecial educators was developed for students in general;specific software geared to special education needs was not

readily available.)

48

:ging Staff Roles

The growth of the microcomputer system in a school districtrtes a need for managing the system. When implementationIrs in a decentralized manner, decisions regarding implemen-ion tend to occur in isolation. As elements of the systemomes centralized, decisionmaking can be coordinated acrossdistrict. This can reduce redundancies and inefficienciesthe system.

-Coordinator Role. The case studies documented therdination patterns for the districts' microcomputer systems.sons involved in the implementation support process werentified, and coordination ctivities traced, to determine theant to which new organizat onal roles were created foraging the system. A pers n (or group) was considered to be"coordinator" as a function of participation in:

the purchase and allocation,of the micro-computers;

the review .purchase and allocation ofsoftware;

maintenance of a central file/catalogueof software;

the scheduling and planning of computeruse; and

provision of training'and technical assis-tance for users.

In some cases, evidence for this role was-determined by aftrict formalizing_ the role with a position statement/title.:oordinator role could also be filled in an informal manner;enthusiast/expert assumed these responsibilities. Whetherdistrict recognizes or establishes an official coordinator's

le is in part determined by its overall centralized or:entralized pattern for supervision, and also by its supportmicrocomputer implementation.

Table VI-3 shows the status of coordinator roles across

stricts. It can be seen that this role did emerge in some

:m in each district, whether or not it was supported orrmalized on a district level. Whether these activities werelducted by a single individual or a planning group variedToss sites, but responsibilities were similar. It appears

at, like training:

49

Table VI- 3

PLANNING GROUPS AND COORDINATOR ROLES

Pre-ImplementationStage '

ImplementationStage

FormalCoordinator

Role

InformalCoordinat

Role

DistrictFormalGroup

InformalGroup

FormalGroup

InformalGroup

*Abingdon X X X

,,Boise None None X X

Cheyenne,

Commack

None None

X

X ,

X

X

X

Hopkins X X X

Lexington X X X

*Linden X X X

Oakhurst X X X

Pittsburg X X X

Prescott X X X

Shelby X X

**Tallulah X

*Abingdon and Linden established role for duration of project only**Tallulah coordinator is primary user

46 56

50

when growth occurs beyond the initial adop-tion of the first microcomputers, the needfor coordination of the microcomputer sys-tem evolves and the role of a formalized orinformal coordinator emerges.

Two districts (Abingdon and Linden) established acoordinator role for the duration of their federal projects.The coordinator's activities did not extend beyond the computersallocated for the project and were terminated when the projects

ended. The coordinators were primarily responsible for carrying

out the tasks stipulated within the project guidelines, whichdirected how the microcomputers were to be used. Thosedistricts demonstrating the most rapid and extensive growth alsohad established at least one formal (full or part-time)coordinator role (Lexington, Hopkins, Prescott, Oakhurst,Commack, and Cheyenne). In Lexington there were two staff

members performing these duties. After the first 12microcomputers were purchased, the Superintendent created the

position of microcomputer.master teacher. The designatedindividual was previously a special education resource teacher

in the developmental math lab. The new role required him todivide his responsibilities between instructing specialeducation students and coordinating the microcomputers. He

became responsible for providing inservice training, maintainingthe equipment, and serving as a resource to staff. In addition,

the staff person in the media center/library became the"microcomputer specialist" for the units in the microcomputer

center. The specialist's responsibilities included: scheduling

and managing the use of the center's computers and maintainingthe district's software library.

In Hopkins, a combination of supervisory patterns formanaging the 120 microcomputers emerged. Centralizedcoordination occurred at the district level, and decentralizedcoordination/autonomy occurred at the building level. At the

district level, the- following activities were coordinated: the

development of instructional and admin'istrative applications,software, and training sessions; maintenance and use ofcomputers; and coordination and compilation of software.Individual purchases of equipment were made at the- building

level. The media specialists in each school were responsiblefor implementation of the system including acquisition andmaintenance of the equipment. They also received support from

the district level coordinators.

The pattern for the emergence of coordinators appeared toparallel trends in training. That is, the same person or group

5'?

51

that had initiated or adopted the first microcomputers in thedistrict became the most likely candidates to fill the

coordinator's role. Having served as a resource to users duringadoption, the initial "adopter" continued to be approached bydistrict personnel and teachers for technical assistance. In

Commack, for example, the special education teacher who had beeninstrumental in implementing the district's first pilotmicrocomputer project, took on a newly created part-time role as

the district's computer curriculum specialist. She alsocr -'nued to teach in a resource room at one of the elementary

, ,ls. Under guidance from the director of student services,

her responsibilities included developing educational computerprograms, designing staff development activities,, coordinatingallocation and use of equipment, and preparing budgets andpurchase orders for the director. She also developed andimplemented pilot demonstrations in classrooms for new.sets of

applications.

In districts without an officially designated coordinator,a technical resource person still emerged. In Boise, theimplementation process was highly decentralized. Purchases ofmicrocomputers and their applications were implementedindependently within schools by individual teachers, and

allocated to those who hd-d\requested the computers. The firstmicrocomputer was acquired by one of the special educationconsulting teachers and, subsequently, he informally became thecoordinator for the special education microcomputers. He addedthis responsibility to his concurrent role of technicalassistance provider for special education 'teachers; heconsidered microcomputer assistance part of his support role.He offered suggestions on using the equipment, transportedcomputers between buildings, and trained teachers for new

applications. He advised teachers on the suitability ofparticular software, and shared software as needs arose.

Does A Coordinator Make a Difference? The lack of sometype of coordination for the microcomputers leads to problemsthat may impede growth and effective use. Without themonitoring, direction, or guidance from someone serving in thiscapacity, users will operate independently of each other. The

lack of communication may result in isolated purchases, which donot benefit from the shared experience of others. People

unaware of applications within their building or across thedistrict duplicate purchases and costs. The increasing'diversity of types of computers purchased creates incompatibi-

lity of software, and limits shared, more efficient use of the

computers. The coordinator can facilitate continuity within the

school district and conserve dollars, time, and effort.

REFERENCES

Budoff, M., and L.R. Hutton, "Microcomputers in SpecialEducation," Exceptional Children, 1982, 49(2), 123-128.

Carmen, G.O., and B. Kosberg, "Educational Technology Research:Computer Technology and the Education of Emotionally HandicappedChildren," Educational Technology, 1982, 22(2), 26-30.

Cartwright, G.P., and K.A. Hall, "A Review of Computer Uses inSpecial Education," in L. Mann and D. Sabatino (eds.), TheSecond Review of Special Education, JSE Press, Philadelphia,1974.

Coburn, P., P. Kelman, N. Roberts, T.F.F. Snyder, D.H. Watt, andC. Weiner, Practical Guide to Computers in Education, AddisonWesley, Reading,Massachusetts, 1982.

Cohen, V.B., "Criteria for the Evaluation of MicrocomputerCoursework," Educational.Technology, 1982, 23(1), 9-14.

Euchner, C., Citation of data collected by H.J. Becker, in"Stress on Computer Drills Diminishing," Education Week, 1982,2(32), 17.

Hannaford, A.E., and F.M. Taber, "Microcomputer Software for the

Handicapped: Development and Evaluation," Exceptional Children,1982, 49(2), 137-142.

Hartley, S.S., "Meta-Analysis of the Effects of IndividucjlyPaced Instruction in Mathematics" (Doctoral Dissertation,-..University of Colorado, Boulder, 1977).

Hasselbring, T.S., "Remediating Spelling Problems ofLearning-Handicapped Students Through the Use of Microcom-puters," Educational Technology, 1'82, 22'(4), 31-32.

Hofmeister, A.M., "Microctmputers in Perspective," ExceptionalChildren, 1982, 49(2) 115-121.

Jamison, D., P. Suppes, and S. Wells, "The Effectiveness ofAlternative Instructional Media:. A Survey," Review of Educa-tional Research, 1974, 44, 1-67.

Kulik, J.A., "Integrating Findings from Different Levels ofInstruction," paper presented at AERA Conference, Los Angeles,April, 1981.

54

Kulik, J.A., R.L. Bangert, and G.W. Williams, "Effects ofComputer-Based Teaching on Secondary School Students," Journalof Educational Psychology, 1983, 75(1), 19-26.

Roblyer, M.D., and F.J. King, "Reasonable Expectations forComputer-Based Instruction in Basic Reading Skills," paperpresented at meeting of Association for Educational Communi-cations and Technology, January 1983.

Steinberg, E.R., "Reviewing the Instructional Effectiveness of

Computer Coursework," Educational Technology, 1983, 23(1),

17-19.

Taber, F.M., Microcomputers in Special Education, Reston,Virginia, CEC, 1983.

/'

TorgFsan, J.K., and K.A. Young, "Priorities for the Use ofMicrocomputers With Learning Disabled Children," Journal ofLearning Disabilities, 1983, 16(4), 234-237.

Vanderheiden, G., "Computers Can Play a Dual Role for DisabledIndividuals," Byte, 1982, 7(9), 136-162.

Whitney, R., and A.M. Hofmeister, "Monitor: A Computer BasedManagement Information System for Special Education," Asso-ciation for Educational Data Systems,1981 Convention Pro-ceedings, Minneapolis, Minnesota, May, 1981, 279-286.

55

INDIVIDUAL CASE STUDY REPORTS

57

WASHINGTON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICTAbingdon, Virginia

Case Study Report

Susan A. Brummel(SRA Technologies, Inc.)

Karl D. White(SRA Technologies, Inc.)

I. SUMMARY NARRATIVE AND CHRONOLOGYThe School District 59

Overview of Microcomputers Studied 60

Chronology 61

II. FEATURES OF THE MICROCOMPUTER SYSTEMIntroductionManagement of the Microcomputers

(IllustrativeComputer-Assisted-Instruction--MathematicsComputer.Literacy--Gifted/TalentedComputer Progrdmming Instruction--High School

676868686970

III. ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUESCentralization and Decentralization 71

Special and Regular Education Interaction 71

Administrative and Instructional Applications 73

Training 73

Emerging Roles 73

The authors are grateful to George H. Gum, Superintendent,for granting permission for Washington County School District toparticipate in the study.' We would like to thadk Jean Luker andDon Waters for assisting the team on site. We also appreciatethe many staff people and teachers who met with us and gavegenerously of their time to make our efforts successful.

59

I. SUMMARY NARRATIVE AND CHRONOLOGY

The School District

Washington County contains 571 square miles of farmland,woodlands and mountainside, and lies 40 miles east of Kingsport,Tennessee, and 130 miles West of Roanoke in southwest Virginia.Agriculture is the major industry, but Washington County is alsocampaigning to attract small business to the area. The 1981population is listed at 46,487, which marks an increase of 5,652people since 1970. Three colleges are located in the vicinityof Abingdon, Virginia, the site for this case study.

There are 17 schools in Washington County: 13 elementaryand 4 secondary schools. The schools are relatively isolated

due to the size of the county and its rural, mountainous charac-teristics. The current enrollment of approximately 8,800 stu-dents, of whom 730 are designated special education students,reflects an ethnic composition of 93 percent white, 7 percentBlack, and 2 percent from other racial origins. One or morespecial education classes are in each of the 17 schools. Allschools have one special education class and provide speechtherapy. .A county-wipe curriculum is used for regular educationstudents. A core curriculum for EMR students is used in onehigh school.

The school district has been experiencing a decliniilgbudget in recent years which has resulted in the consolidationof administrative assignments. The Superintendent of Schools,for example, also serves as the director of secondary education.One person is both assistant superintendent and the director ofvocational education. Similarly, the director of federal pro-grams is4.also the coordinator of testing/evaluation. Thesupervisor of special education is responsible for all admini-strative and curricular functions related to special education.All teachers, including the 45 special education teachers, are(most directly) responsible to their building principals. Otherthan building level principals and assistant principals, theonly additional administrative staff consist of two supervisorsin the areas of reading and math.

4-

The district currently has a total of 46 microcomputers.Half of these (23) were purchased for special education througha Title IV-C federal grant. These microcomputers were the sub-ject of this case study.

Washington County has 23 additional microcomputers forregular education use which were not part of this currentinvestigation. Three of the high schools each have one Apple

63

60

II-Plus, 48/64K with disk drives, purchased through ESEA Title

IV-B funds. Abingdon High School also has one Franklin ACE 1000

microcompvter purchased with Distributive Education Departmentfunds, and an Apple III purchased with general funds that is

used for class scheduling and word processing. John Battle and

Holston High Schools each purchased one TRS-80 in the 1981-82

school year through School Club (math and science) funds.

Abingdon Elementary's PTA purchased four Texas Instrument-99microcomputers in November 1982. Twelve Apple II-Plus microcom-puters were purchased in November 1982 through Chapter II Funds;

four each are located in John Battle and Holston High Schools,and one in each of the four elementary schools.

Overview of Microcomputers Studied

All but one of special education's 23 Apple II-Plus micro-computers are located in computer labs in two high schools (11

units in each lab). The project coordinator for the grant uses

the one additional Apple II-Plus for adapting and developing

software. These 23 Apples are used for a variety of

instructional purposes:

The special education teachers at both schoolsuse Milliken Math Series software for computer -assisted- instruction with 7 special educationstudents enrolled in math cli, ses. The micro-computers are used more than tO percent of classtime to develop the specific math skills outlinedin students' IERs._'

Approximately 16 regular education students atPatrick Henry High School, in 11 -12th grades,participate in a one-semester elective mputer

programming course.

The computers are also used after school for aneight-week class in computer literacy wherebasic computer programming skills are taught to7th graders. About 70-80 regular education andgifted/talented students participate in this 12-

hour course which is coordinated by the super-visor of elementary mathematics.

Infprmal exploration and work on individual pro-jects by interested students takes place beforeschool for approximately one.hour and in unsched-led periods during the day. These sessions aresupervised by the regular education math teachers.

61

The University of Virginia Extension Campus-usesthe Abingdon High School computers to offer threeevening programming courses for community residents.

Chronology

The microcomputers purchased r the special education pro-gram were the first ones acquired b the Washington CountySchool District. In the fall of 1979, the industrial artsteacher at Patrick Henry High School asked a special educationteacher to co-author a proposal for an ESEA Title IV-C Innova-tive Projects grant. The director of federal programs approvedthe effort, and the two teachers sought funding.

A three-year grant was awarded in June 1980, which includedla pilot year followed by two years of implementation. The pri-mary goal of the project was to determine the e fects of micro-Computer use on math achievement and school att tude of EMR/LDStudents at the secondary level. During the a 1 of 1980, thefirst microcomputer purchases were made, and oftware for mathe-matics instruction was adapted and developed. A computer labwas established at Patrick Henry High School, equipped with 11

Apple II-Plus microcomputers.

Student instruction began in March 1981. In May 1982, asecond computer lab was created at Abingdon High School andequipped with an additional 11 Apple II-Plus microcomputers.(The case study occurred in the third and final year of theproject.)

The project initially served 20 special education students,but was expanded to include 70. Students were exposed to adevelopmentally-based, sequentially organized, computerized pro-gram designed to teach general mathematical skills, with lessonobjectives based on instructional materials in the MillikenMathematics Series. Each lesson guided the student in perfor-mance.of a task until the student's responses reached a masterycriterion. Control groups receiving regular special educationmathematics instruction were formed at Holston, John Battle, andAbingdon High Schools.

The evaluation plan,included in the project proposal stipu-lated a pre/post test, control group design. Self-evaluationand third party evaluations were also conducted to assesswhether project objectives had been accomplished. The findingsof the 1981-1982 Third Party Evaluation Report were neutral orpositive regarding specific outcomes of the first full year of

implementation. The Report concluded, however, that studentsexposed to microcomputer assisted instruction appeared to exper-ience achievement gains in mathematics during the school year

62

and that they seemed to have more positive attitudes thansimilarly handicapped students not exposed to microcomputers.

Supervision for the project was provided by the director offederal programs, assisted by the supervisor of special educa-

tion and the director'of vocational education. These three

individuals report directly to the Superintendent. During the

implementation of the project an industrial arts teacher (one of

the original proposal co-authors) was named project coordinator

and maintained responsibility for coordination of the microcom-

puters. He also received requests for software purchases and

forwarded them, through the director of federal programs, to the

Superintendent for approval. Use and scheduling of the

computers were strictly stipulated in the grant guidelines. In

addition, the project coordinator distributed all Title IV-Csoftware to the two participating high schools and providedtechnical assistance to users. He worked closely with the

special education teacher (and proposal co-author) whoimplemented the project with her students.

These two teachers have worked together throughout the pro-

ject, while continuing their teaching responsibilities. How-

ever, the supporting administrative staff has changed. In

September 1981, the director of vocational education assumed the

additional duty of assistant superintendent of Washington County

Public Schools. As the Title IV-C project administrator, he

worked closely with the coordinator of evaluation and research

who is the Title IV-C project director. The assistant superin-'

tendent recommended budget amendments regarding charges for

equipment, salaries, instructional materials, supplies, travel,

and inservice. He fotwarded these proposed changes to the

Superintendent. The amendments were approved by the state

director of federal programs, and by the state coordinator of

special projects and grants. The ESEA Title IV-CAdministrativeManual stipulates that the project director is required to pre-

sent, at the end of the first year, an itemized budget showing

anticipated funds needed for the next year's operation.Subsequent budget amendments were needed to remain within the

range of allocated grant monies.

Four additional special education teachers are now parti-

cipating in the project--three at Abingdon High School and one

at Patrick Henry High School. The participating teachersreceived inservice training on how to incorporate the micro-

computers in their math instruction. Lesson objectives were

correlated with Milliken Mathematics software and with Mathema-

tics for Individual Achievement, a basal mathematics textbook.

In 1982, Washington County secured additional federalfunding for 19 microcomputers that, unlike the Title IV-C micro-

computers, were not designated for special education use. The

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success of the IV-C project appears to have served as a catalystfor the county's decision to introduce microcomputers into regu-lar education.

The major events in the implementaticn of microcomputers inWashington County School -)istrict are presented in Table 1.

64

Table 1: Chronology of Implementation

DateMonth-Year Event

WashingtonCountySchool

District

1979-1980 Academic Year

Nov. 1979 Two teachers discussed the possi-bilities of microcomputers as in-structional tools for EMR/LD stu-dents.

Dec. 1979 Submission of Title IV-C proposalrequesting 13 microcomputers.

June 1980

Aug. 1980

Acceptance of proposal with staterecommended revision designatingthe first year as a pilot/plan-ning year. The purchase of twomicrocomputers was authorized.

Purchase of two Apple II-Plusmicrocomputers with printers.

1980-1981 Academic Year

Sept.-Feb. Project planning, development andpurchase of software.

Jan. 1981 Participating special educationteacher attends computer course.

Feb. 1981 Title IV -C self-evaluationducted.

con-

Feb. 1981 Evaluq(ion plan drafted bynal evaluatur.

exter-

March 1981 Pilot project with studentstruction begins.

in-

March 1981 On-site visit by state evaluationteam.

66

May 1981

June 1481

Evaluation report submitted.

State Title IV-C office approvespurchase of three additional', AppleII-Plus microcomputers With un-spent salary, inservice, and tra-vel funds.

June 1981 Three Apple II-Plus microcomputerspurchased.

July-19S1 Ten additionag microcomputers re-quested (was approved).

1981-1982 Academic Year

Oct. 1981 Purchase of seven Apple II -Plusmicrocomputers (Authorized 7/81);computer lab with 11 work sta-tionst up.

May 1982 Evaluation report submitted.

May 1982

May 1982

State Title IV-C office author-ized purchase of five Apple II-Plus microcomputers with unspentfunds. -"

Purchase of three Apple II-Plusmicrocomputers (authorized 7/81)and five Apple II-Plus units(authorized 5/82) to enable expan-sion to a second site.

1982-1983 Academic Year

Aug. 1982 1-1/2 day inservice training for30 special education teachers.

Sept. 1982

Sept. 1982

Computer lab with eight Apple II-Plus computers established atsecond high school.

Six hours of after-school instruc-tion provided for three specialeducation teachers participatingat the second site.

Oct. 1982 Four hours of additional instruc-

Nov. 1982

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tion provided for the above threeteachers.

Three additional Apple II-Plusmicrocomputers were authorizedand purchased; total of 11 micro-computers in each computer lab.

67

II. FEATURES OF THE MICROCOMPUTER SYSTEM

Introduction

The microcomputers studied in Washington County were 23Apple II-Plus units, each equipped with a disk drive and a colormonitor. The project coordinator uses one Apple II-Plus compu-ter with a Centronics 779 printer in his office. The remainingmicrocomputers are located in two computer labs (11 units ineach) at two high schools, Patrick Henry and Abingdon. Onemicrocomputer in each lab has a dual disk drive. There is aPaper Tiger printer in one lab and an Epson MX-80 printer in the

other.

The computer lab at Patrick Henry High School is located ina small room that previously was designated as storage for thephysical education department. Access to the lab is possibleonly by exiting through a rear door of the school and walking ashort distance out of doors. Eleven Apple II-Plus microcompu-ters are arranged at individual work stations, lining threewalls of the room, with the last two units filling the space in

the center of the room. These units, together with theteacher's desk and a bookshelf for software storage, completelyfill the room.

The 11 microcomputers in the lab at Abingdon High Schoolare placed on long tables lining opposite walls of the room.Several tables, arranged end-to-end in the middle of the room,provide a central location for distributing materials. A largemetal cabinet is used for storing software. The lab is locatedon the second floor of the high school in the science and mathwing of the building. The large room was previously used as ascience fair workroom.

Five special education teachers and 70 special educationstudents use the microcomputers regularly for math instruction.There are several periods each day when the labs are not sche-duled for special education math instruction. During one ofthese open periods at Patrick Henry, a math teacher teaches pro-gramming to 16 upper-level regular education math students.During the two unscheduled periods at Abingdon, the lab is opento students with passes who are working on independent program-ming projects (approximately 25 students participate). Super-vision is provided by regular education math teachers. Aneight-week computer literacy program for gifted/talented seventhgraders is held after school for approximately 70 students.Both labs are used for this program. At the Abingdon computerlab, three evening programming courses are conducted by the Uni-

versity of Virginia Extension Campus.

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Management of the Microcomputers

The supervisor of special education is responsible for alladministrative and curricular functions related to special edu-

cation in Washington County. The present supervisor, unlike her

predecessor, is not directly involved in decisions regarding the

Title IV-C microcomputers. She is informed of project progress,but devotes most of her time and attention to direct supervisionof teachers and administration of services for special educationstudents.

Most of the decisions regarding use of the ESEA Title IV-Cmicrocomputers and software purchases are made by the co-authors

of the Title IV-C grant. Decisions are communicated to thedirector of federal programs and the Superintendent for approv-__-

al. Requests for purchasing additional microcomputers-oome-fromthe project director and administrator and must-bb-_approved bythe State Title IV-C program office. Use of the microcomputersmust comply with Title IV-C guidelines both during and after the

grant period. The principals and assistant principals at the

two high schools have been involved in decisions concerningspace allocation, scheduling of classes, and security proce-dures. After-school use of the labs is arranged with the build-ing principal by the using group and with permission from theSuperintendent.

During the first year of the project, both teachers main-

tained their full-time teaching assignments. The project coor-

dinator (the industrial arts teacher) received a salary for an

additional 5-8 hours per week devoted to after-school planning

and program development activities. During the second and third

years, the project coordinator's courseload was reduced by one

class. For the last two years, the special education teacher

was allocated five hours per week, after school time, for pro-

ject implementation. This year both teachers share study-hallresponsibilities during the same period, allowing them addition-

al time to coordinate project activities.

Illustrative Applications

To provide an idea of how the microcomputers are being used

Abingdon, three illustrative applications are described be-

low.

Computer-Assisted-Instruction--Mathematics. Several teach-

ers commented that microcomputers have enabled them to manage

more successfully the on-going individualization of a student's

math instruction. In one class, nine students can work at nine

69

different ability levels ranging from second grade to eighthgrade. One teacher reported that microcomputers have eliminated44 occasional "dead times" in which one or more studentsrequired specific information before they could continue anactivity or move on to the next. One teacher noted that theinterest shown by the advanced level math students to attend acomputer programming class in the special education room has hadan unexpected positive effect on the special education students.Several regular education students have asked to be in specialeducation so that they might have access to the microcomputers.

In a class that was observed in the computer lab at PatrickHenry High School, eight special education students arrived andbegan loading their disks. The teacher made some general an-nouncements and pointed out individual assignments on the black-board. Students returned to their various (computer assisted)lessons in subtraction, multiplication, and division that theyhad been working on the previous day. The teacher pointed outthat this was ordinarily a time also used for individual confer-encing with students. Students in her class spend half of aclass period using the microcomputer. The other time is dividedamong activities such as conferences, pencil and paper math ac-tivities, and math games.

Computer Literacy--Gifted/Talented. This is the secondyear that an after-school computer literacy course has beenoffered to gifted /talented. seventh-graders. The eight-weekcourse is held once a year and is coordinated by the supervisorof elementary mathematics. The Title IV-C project staff and thedirector of evaluation/testing have served as instructors duringboth years of the program. This year there are seven instruc-tors and approximately 70 students involved in this 12-hourcourse. Instructors have met on one occasion to discuss thetopics to be covered. A course syllabus is being considered,but in the meantime the instructors, most of whom are elementarymath teachers, prepare course lessons independently. Thecourses are held at Patrick Henry High School and Abingdon HighSchool computer labs. The course develops basic knowledge ofwhat a computer is, how it works, and what it can and cannot do,as well as providing opportunity to acquire basic programmingskills.

;During an observed class Session at Abingdon, all ten stu-

dents worked individually at their own microcomputers. Theirattention to the screen was interrupted only occassionally whenthey would seek assistance from the teacher, make a briefexchange with a neighbor, or return to the central table toexchange activity cards. The teacher circulated arJu. d t:he roomanswering questions and expressing her approval of students'work. At 5 p.m. (dismissal time), students had to be remindedseveral times by the teacher that it was time to pack up and go

70

home. One student delayed until he had a printout of the pro-

gram he had been working on. He was planning to finish writing

the program on his computer at home.

Computer Programming Instruction--High School. Patrick,.11erZsigh School added a computer programming course to its/ high sc' ool curriculum during the school year 1982-83. This

\ course i offered for one semester as an elective to 11th and

2th gra ers who have completed Algebra II. Classroom enroll -

m- t is limited to 16 due to the small size of the computer lab.Two students can work together at no more than five microcompu-

ters. A course outline was developed by the math teacher andapp oved by the school board. The course is offered during a

iod when the microcomputers are not being used by the special

education classes. There is presently a waiting list of stu-dents who would like to enroll in this course.

During observation of the class, students walked in andimmediately began to load what appeared to be independent pro-jects they had been working on. After all the students hadarrived, the teacher directed them to their textbooks. Follow-

ing a short presentation on a new concept, students were given a

programming assignment. When students finished theirassignment, 'hey returned to the independent projects c which

they had beer 4orking.

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III. ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES

Centralization and Decentralization

Administrative and curricular functions related to specialeducation are monitored by the supervisor of special educAtion,who is directly responsible to. the assistant.supet-intendent.The supervisor of special education manages the special educa-tion teachers and support staff and monitors responsibilitiesrelated to P.L. 94-142 implementation. Most of the decisionsregarding the administration of the Title IV-C microcomputersare recommended by the co-authors of the proposal and approvedby the project director and assistant superintendent. Budgetamendments are accepted by the state director of federal pro-grams, and by the state special projects and grants coordinator.

The initial adoption of the microcomputers was highlycentralized. Because all the computers were purchased withTitle IV-C funds, it was mandated that high priority use begiven to special education students for basic math Skills im-provement. The evaluation component of the project furtherdefined the specific software to be used and the manner in whichthe math lessons would be conducted.

The Title IV-C project will end in July 1983, and staff in-

dicated that the centralizing effect of the grant has decreasedover time. The supervisor of special education does not plan toimplement any procedures next year that would restrict orcontrol use of the Title IV-C computers. The position ofproject coordinator will also end with the project and thepresent coordinator does not anticipate being able to give muchtime to similar activities next year. No administrator orfaculty member has been delegated the responsibility for

coordinating the use of these microcomputers in the future.Administrators would like a computer coordinator position to bedeveloped, but they don't anticipate that funds will beavailable for such a position.

In two years, the number of microcomputers in the Washing-ton County School district increased from 0 to 46. Althoughadministrators are interested in centralizing procedures such assoftware acquisition/distribution, the only centralized actioncurrently underway is the provision for an employee to betrained in equipment maintenance. Use of other microcomputersin the district is decentralized -- directed at classroom orschool building levels.

Special and Regular Education Interaction

72

The original Title IV-C proposgl addressed specific colla-borative activities betwgen ,regula Od'special educationteachers. The plan was fo-t_special 4ad regular education teach-ers to team with the Title IV:C:prtject director to carry outIEP math objectives using CAI -math and to coordinate its usewith mainstreamed handicapped students in regular educationclasses, the library, and special edUCation rooms. When theState IV-C office recommended7thaethe.project be revised tomake the first year a planniFjipilot:I'lear, the initial purchaseof microcomputers was redticed from 13'to 2. The pilot projectconcentrated on CAI-math instruction in one special educationteache,r's classroom, and the first year budget for inservicetrainag was significantly-reduced. Evaluation of this pilotproject indicated that the experimental group (12 EMR students)were not likely candidates fbr mainstreaming at the secondarylevel. Therefore, the original emphaS1S'on mainstreaming andsubsequent collaboration between special and regular educationteachers was reduced. ExtensiVe training of one regular educa-tion math teacher and one'..spelal education teacher In ti first

year was not retained. ni2 iArgeted math' teacher did, however,receive training during e'cibl-wide inservice. This mathteacher has collaborated-Itt-the special education teachers inscheduling use of the computer lab; he is presently teaching aprogramming course to upper. level math students during a classperiod when the microComia44eT4-are not used by special educationstudents.

Although the Title V -C microcomputers were initiallyintended strictly for spebial education use, informal collabo-ration for scheduling and shared use with regular education nowoccurs. The proposal guidelines enforce use for specialeducation students as needed, but allow for the availability ofthe microcomputers to other students a301 staff with the approvaland clearance by the Title IV-C coordinator and staff.

At Abingdon_High School, three special education teachersparticipating in the Title IV-C project have met with the mathand science department chairmen to schedule use of the specialeducation computer lab. These are the'sinly five staff who have

keys to the lab (which is located in'tne math and science wingof the high school). It was decided thi,ttilring the two classperiods per day when there were no spe&4al education mathclasses scheduled, the lab would be opeft-to.stUtlents with passes

and supervised by a math or science teacher. Several special

education teachers/expressed'concern and uncertainty as towhether there wil'1 be major changes in'how the lab will bescheduled for use next year when the Title IV-C project is over.One regular education teacher mentione4.the possibility of one

or more programming course,s.being offered next year. The high

school presently owns one-APple II-Plus_microcpmputer for in-

7 b

73

structional use that has not been purchased with Title IV-Cproject funds. This microcomputer is wheeled on a cart toclassrooms and then returned to the special education computerlab.

Administrative and Instructional Applications

There are no administrative applications of the Title IV-Cmicrocomputers at the Abingdon High School lab. The principalof Abingdon HIgh School recently purchased a separate Apple III

microcomputer to be used for administrative purposes -- classscheduling and word processing. At Patrick Henry High School,the only administrative application is the production of studentmailing labels by the Title IV-C project director, who volun-teered to perform this task on his Apple-II microcomputer.

T

The first five special education teachers Lo participate in

the Title IV-C project attended four two-hour inservice sessionsconducted by the grant co-authors. The inservice covered abasic introduction to computers, history, and lab sessions for

. practice in running BASIC programs. Thirty other special educa-tion teachers (district-wide) have attended a 1-1/2 day inser-

- vice focused on using microcomputers as instructional tools thatwas also conducted by the project staff. The training was madepossible through Title IV-C funds.

Recommended revisions to the original proposal designatedthe first year as a pilot'and planning year. Funds originallyallocated for inservice were carried over to the second year,and the State Title IV-C office approved additional hardwarepurchases with these unspent funds. Subsequent budget revisionsreduced allocations for inservice during the second and thirdyears.

Emerging Roles

Even though the number of Title IV-C microcomputers has

grown from two in one school to 23 in two schools, the timeallocated for managing the labs by the director has not in-

creased. During implementation of the Title IV-C project one of

the original co-authors (the industrial arts teacher) was namedcoordinator and given responsibility for coordinating,.ne microcomputers. Teacher requests for additional

software are received and reviewed by the special educationteacher (project co-author), who forwards them to the directorof federal projects for approval. Both the project coordinator

7-'

74

and the special education teacher have offered inservicetraining and technical assistance to the other teachers. During

the first year, the project coordinator maintained'his full-timeteaching assignments, and received an additional salary for 5-8hours per week for after-school planning and developmentactivities. During the second and third years, thecoordinator's course load was reduced by one class. The specialeducation teacher who implemented the pilot project in herclassroom was given five hours per week after-school time for

project implementation. This year, both teachers use their .

regular planning time, during a shared study-hall period, forcdbrdinating project activities. Now that the Title IV-C pro-ject is ending (July 1983), the project coordinator will returnto his full-time, industrial arts position in the fall and, al-though desired by administrators and teachers, the continuationof a computer coordinator position -is' not expected.

75

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT OF BOISE CITYBoise, Idaho

Case Study Report

Tom V. Hanley(SRA Technologies, Inc.)

Donald P. Horst(SRA Technologies, Inc.)

I. SUMMARY NARRATIVE AND CHRONOLOGYThe School District 77

Overview of Microcomputers Studied 78

.:hronology 79

FEA7- OF THE MICROCOMPUTERS83

M, 'f e7e Microcomputers 84

IllustraLi _ Ai lic_ 85

Communication Aide 85

CAI with Hearing and Speech ImpairedStudents 8t

Microcomputers in the Special Education FoodServices Program 87

III. ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUESCentralization and DecentralizationSpecial and Regular Education InteractionAdministrative and Instructional ApplicationsTrainingEmerging Roles

8888899090

The authors are grateful to Dr. Barney C. Parker, Superin-tendent, for granting permission for the Independent School Dis-trict of Boise City to participate in this study. We would liketo thank Mr. Roy Griggs, Mathematics Supervisor, and Dr. ThomasWoychick, Director of Pupil Personnel Services, for arrangingour visit and assisting the research team on site. We alsoappreciate the assistance given us by all the other educatorswho met with us and gave generously of their time to make ourefforts successful.

7E

77

I. SUMMARY NARRATIVE AND CHRONOLOGY

The School District

Boise is the capital and largest city in the state ofIdaho. The state depends on agriculture, mining, lumber, andtourism for most of its income. Light industry, including elec-tronics manufacturing, is also present. The legislature is con-servative, and per pupil expenditures on education are among thelowest in the country.

Boise is a predominantly white, middle-class city surround-ed by sparsely populated lands, and it is possible to reachrural areas within ten minutes from any part of town. BoiseState University occupies a large campus near the center of

Boise, but Boise does not strike the visitor as primarily acollege town.

The Independent School District of Boise City covers all ofBoise and extends beyond the city boundaries. It is not verylarge geographically, however, and it is possibleeto drive fromone end to the other in 15 minutes. It is by far the largestdistrict in the state of Idaho,and includes over 22,000 stu-dents housed in 38 different chools: 28 elementary schools, 6junior high schools, 3 h. schools, and 1 special educationschool.

The major problem faced in the Boise schools are finan-cial. With per-pupil xpenditures ranking 48th or 49th in thenation, it is difficu t to find funds for hardware purchases orfor the personnel to evelop new microcomputer applications.Nevertheless, special projects, parent groups, and individualteachers have managed to provide a variety of microcomputersover the past four years, and the district is now in the middleof a program to expand mic_ocomputer implementations in theschools.

The Boise City school district is large enough to have arather complex organizational structure. Four "directors" areeach responsible to three assistant superintendents. One ofthese directors is responsible for all pupil personnel services,including special education. Under this director, four super-visors are specifically responsible ror the special educationprogram. In addition, there are three consulting teachers, whoeach provide support to special education teachers in one ofthree geographic regions. Each consulting teacher is supervisedby two or more of the four special education supervisors. 'Ingeneral, authority within the district is relatively decentral-ized, with a substantial amount of autonomy at the buildinglevel.

)r-

so

78

In Boise, 166 special education teachers and other person-nel serve a total of 1,889 special education students. In addi-

tion, the special education staff includes ten "facilitators"(teachers) who serve 374 gifted/talented students.

There are 11 microcomputers in the Boise school districtthat are used for special education services, including the

gifted/talented program. These microcomputers, and their uses,were the subject of this case study.

In addition there are a variety of other microcomputers inBoise, most of which have been purchased by parent groups orindividual teachers and which represent independent applica-

tions. There is no major systematic use of these other micro-computers by special education students.

Boise does not have its own mainframe /Computer. Foradministrative tasks, the district uses the state educational

computer service. Many administrators express interest in using

the microcomputers for administrative applications, but only a

few such applications have been implemented to date.

Overview of Microcomputers Studied

Special education (which includes both handicapped andgifted/talented students in Boise) has acquired a total of 11

microcomputers. The microcomputers are used primarily for

instructional purposes. Among the applications are:

Communication aids for a severely handicappedstudent, the microcomputer is fitted with a key-board guard; applications are being developed forcommunication skills with hearing-impaired students

at a high school;

Basic skills instruction for speech-impaired stu-dents in a special education school, for orthopedi-cally handicapped students in as elementary schoolclassroom, and for special education students in ajunior high school resource room;

Computer literacy for gifted/talented students inthe elementary schools.

In addition to these instructional applications,administrative uses of the microcomputers have also been

established. The consulting teacher has implemented theseapplications using. available time on one of the Apples:

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79

generating bus lists for the special education students;

maintaining an inventory of software;

preparing summer program transportation lists.

Chronology

The use of microcomputers with special education studentsin Boise's schools began in the 1979-80 academic year. A yearearlier, a high school student suffered a fall from a horse thatleft her almost completely paralyzed. She retained limited con-trol of her head and right arm, but no speech. After manymonths oft lospitalization and rehabilitation, she started atten-ding the )separate special education school in Boise for theseverely haftriicapped.

At first, she made little progress because she simply couldnot communicate." One of the district's three consult-ing teach-ers obtained district special education funds and,r-in the slIringof 1980, bought a Bell and Howell "Black Apple'!-Microcomputeithat the student has used ever since with excellent results.Although the consulting teacher had no previous background inmicrocomputers, he invested his own time in learning about bothhardware and software, and he quickly became the microcomputerresource person for special education.

Other special education teachers soon became activelyinterested in the potential of microcomputers in their own

classes. A special education home economics teacher obtained agrant for a 1981 summer course at the University of Idaho inMoscow. She le'arned BASIC programming and, at the end of thecourse, was allowed to take one of the microcomputers back toher school. The teacher has used the Apple microcomputer to

control food inventory in_her food services class, and findsthat many of her special education students can update inven-tories and prepare shopping lists with the microcomputer. In

1982, Hewlett Packard donated an HP-85 microcomputer to theschool, and the special education teacher is now using that unitto help students take oc,ders for food and to make change.

Also in the 1982-83 school year, three other special educa-tion teachers began to develop microcomputer uses. Another

teacher at the s cial education school began to investigate

basic skills in ructional programs for use with her speech im-

paired student A teacher at an elementary school, began usingan'Apple to t ach basic skills to her orthopedically handicapped

students. The resource room teacher a, a junior high begantaking her students to the TRS-80 comghter lab in the next

80

classroom. These teachers worked independently of each other,but the consulting teacher provided support for all three.

Currently (spring 1983), these three teachers are continu-ing to use the microcomputers with their students. A specialeducation kindergarten teacher is also now using an Applemicrocomputer to teach basic skills and computer literacy. At ajunior high, the resource room teacher has recently acquired anApple microcomputer for her own classroom, as well as one of theTRS-80'undts belonging to the school. (With two computersavailable there, sprpogial education has been able 'to loan oneApple briefly to a family with a handicapped student, so thatthe family can try,ouarocomputer applications in the home.)

In the winter Goof 192, an Apple microcomputer was acquiredfor the hearing impaliret students at one high school. Plans forits use are currently geidg implemented.

Microcomputer uses with gifted/talented students started in

an elementary school where,"in 1978-79, a sixth-grade teacherbegan on his own to use computer terminals and borrowed micro-computers in his classroom. The following year, a "facilitator"for the gifted/talqnted program became interested in microcompu-ter applications. These two put together several proposals topurchase microcomputers and, in the spring of 1980, the school'sparent Teacher Crganization (PTO) provided them with a Bell andHowell "Black Apple" microcomputer.

Both of these teachers used the microcomputer to teach com-puter literacy and programming in 1980-81. During 1981-82, allten "facilitators" in the district's gifted/talented programpooled their equipment budgets and bought another Apple micro-computer. With this equipment, they began a larger scaleproject to teach computer literacy and programming.

By the winter of 1 82-83, the gifted/talented program had

acquired another Apple nd two Commodore 64 microcomputers ofits ow' and was also m king use of several microcomputersbelonging to different schools. The facilitators take themicrocomputers to different schools on different days of theweek. Gifted/talented students frOm several surrounding schools

come to each school for their programming sessions. The micro-computer course is now organized in the form of 12-week work-shops available to all of the gifted/talented elementarystudents.

The major events in the implementation of special educationmicrocomputers in the Boise City School District are presentedin Table 1.

81

Table 1: Chronology of Implementation Boise CitySchool District

DateMonth-Year Event

1978 -79 Academic Year

Fall 1978 Sixth-grade teacher puts terminalin classroom.

1979-80 Academic Year

Spring 1980

Spring 1980

1980-81 Academic Year

Spring 1981

Summer 1981

1981-82 Academic Year

Consulting teacher purchasesmicrocomputer for severely handi-capped student with Title VI-Bfunds.

Teacher goes to Minnesota compu-ter conference. PTO buys oneBell and Howell "Apple" forelementary school.

School Board orders districtstudy of microcomputer needs.

Food services teacher takesmicrocomputer course and ac-quires Apple microcomputer.

Fall 1982 Gifted/tale ted program pur-chases one Apple microcomputer.

Spring 1982

Special ed cation teacheracquires A ple unit equippedwith sound

Teacher of speech-impaired stu-dents trains with new Applemicrocomputer.

Special education teacher takes

1982-83 Academic Year

Fall 1982

Winter 1982

82

inservice.

Teacher of speech-impaired stu-dents implements CAI on AppleApple microcomputer.

Food services teacher implementsHP-85 microcomputer.

Special education teacher getsApple microcomputer in resourceroom.

Gifted/talented program purchasestwo Commodore 64 microcomputers.Teacher for hearing-impairedstudents aquires Apple unit.

83

II. FEATURES OF THE MICROCOMPUTERS

Introduction

Of the 49 microcomputers in Boise, the 11 special educationmicrocomputers were the focus of this study. Seven of these areused by handicapped students and are located in six differentclassr000ms, in four schools. Four microcomputers are used toteach computer literacy and programming to gifted/talentedelementary students.

The microcomputers are as follows:

A Bell and Howell "Black Apple", fittedwith keyboard guard located in the specialeducation school; used full-time by aseverely handicapped student.

An Apple II-Plus equipped with disk driveand printer located in the food servicesroom of the special education school.

A Hewlett Packard-85 used during lunch forfor an hour or two each day, plus addi-tional practice time for some students.

An Apple II-Plus with color monitor, diskdrive, printer, and joy stick located ina. self-contained classroom at the specialeducation school and used most of the timefor individualized instructions

An Apple II with disk drive and audio cas-sette_tape with interface in a classroomat the elementary school is used withorthopedically handicapped students. Theunit is also shared with special educa-tion kindergarten students.

An Apple II-Plus located in a resourceroom at a junior high school. Thismicrocomputer was temporarily on loan toone family so that they could experimentat home before buying their own micro-computer.

An Apple II-Plus with disk drive locatedat a high school, is used with hearing im-paired students.

Cr

84

Two Apple II and two Commodore 64 micro-computers belonging to the special edu-cation department, and a Bell and Howell"Black Apple" belonging to an elementaryschool are used with gifted/talented stu-dents.

Management of the Microcomputers

The special education microcomputers are relativelyindependent of centralized, district-level coordination.Nevertheless, the School Board has conducted a series of"computer needs" studies involving district-wide committees,outside consultants, and district task forces. These studies

have resulted in: (a) the establishment of computer labs at the

three district high schools; (b) preparation for a pilot ele-

mentary school lab to begin operation 0 fall 1983; and (c)plans for a task force to study computer needs at the junior

high school level.

The spedial education microcomputers, like most of themicrocomputers now in use in the district, were obtained pri-

marily due to efforts of individual teachers, _T hese teachers

have been required to go through normal district channels inpurchasing any equipment with school funds.

Special education is managed by the director of pupil

personnel services. He is also responsible for psychological

services, counseling and records services, social work services,onursing services, and attendance services. Eath of these

departments'has its own administrative head.

Sp cial education includes both handicapped students and

gifted/talented students. It is administeredby four

supervisors: two who, divide the district geographically; one

responsible or all communication disorders services, and one

who is the principal of the special education school.

Under these four supervisors, there are three consulting

teachers who serve as resource persons for the special education

teachers in the schools. The consulting teachers are not

supervisors in any sense. That is, they have no line respon-

sibility. They are each responsible for about one-third of the

district, but their areas are not the same as those of thesupervisors, each consulting teacher is responsible to two or

more of the supervisors. The first twd supervisors (above) and

the three consulting teachers all work with teachers of both

handicapped and gifted/talented students.

The techniCal resource r-rson for microcomputer uses in

special education is one of the three consulting teachers. He

85

holds this unofficial position because he was the first specialeducator to become interested in microcomputer uses and took theinitiative to learn about them. The other two consulting teach-ers have not become extensively i6volved in uses of microcom-puters, and there is no organized use of microcomputers by thespecial education teachers in the schools that they serve.

Requests for new equipment are initiated by the teachersand the consulting teacher. These teachers prepare a writtenrationale for their intended application and submit it to theappropriate supervisor. If it is approved by the supervisor, itis passed on to the director of pupil personnel services andthen on to the assistant superintendent for instruction and thedirector of business. Microcomputer purchases from districtfunds must be conducted through "bids" from approved vendors.The lowest bid for acceptable equipment is then funded andacquired. This is why, for example, the less expensive Bell andHowell "Black Apple" microcomputers were purchased.

The ultimate management of the microcomputer applicationsis highly decentralized. Individual teachers who use themicrocomputers determine the specific applications in theirclassrooms. The gifted/talented facilitators (teachers) managethe applications, across schools, for their program. The con-sulting teacher supports all these teachers--with new software,technical assistance, and transportation of equipment whennecessary.

Illustrative Applications

Adaptive Communication Aide' for Severely HandicappedSt dent. This microcomputer was the first unit for specialed cation in the district. It was also the consulting teacher'sfi st microcomputer project, and he has co tinued to be thedriving force for special education applic tions ofmi rocomputers in the district.

The application itself is very straightforward. A severelyhandicapped high school student uses the microcomputer to typeeverything that she wishes to communicate. She was injured in afall from a horse in July 1978, and she is now quadriplegic withlimited use of one arm, limited head control, and no speech.Intellectually, she is quite normal, but until she started usingthe microcomputer three years ago, communication of any kind wasvery difficult.

The microcomputer is a Bell and Howell "Black Apple." Theonly modification is a keyboard guard. This guard is a raisedpanel that covers the entire keyboard. It has holes over eachkey so that the student can rest her hand on the guard and use afinger or pencil to press the keys. Without the guard, she does

86

not have enough muscular control to press the desired keys with-out hitting other keyS as well.

The student attends the special education school regularlyand has the use of the microcomputer most of the day. When sheis not using it, it is borrowed for other special, education usesin the school.

Computer-Assisted-Instruction with Hearing and SpeechImpaired Students. A special program for hearing and speechimpaired students was implemented three years ago in a classroom

at the special education school. The teacher now has sevenstudents, all without speech and all with varying levels ofretardation. Most ofthe students are of junior high schoolage, and they will stay at this school until they leave thedistrict or reach 21 years old.

The classroom is large with several learning centerssectioned along the walls. One of these centers features anApple II-Plus microcomputer with a color monitor, disk drive,printer, and joy stick. The equipment is all standard exceptfor a cloth panel that can be attached to the keyboard withVelcro to cover the alphabetic keys. This cover simplifies thetasks for those students who use only the numeric keys and find

other keys to be a distraction.

An autistic student, demonstrates a program that teachesnumber recognition and matching. A large number appears on thescreen and he presses the corresponding key on the microcomputer

keyboard. The screen indicates that he is correct anJ displays-

a new number. This student concentrates well and gets most of

the answers correct. He obviously enjoys- hat hp is doing, and

his teacher points out that he will concentrate much longer onthe computer exercise than he will on paper and pencil tasks.

Other students demonstrate their skills at other, moredifficult tasks. Several are working on the early parts of the

Milliken K-6 curricula in math readiness, addition, 'subtraction,

and alphabetization. The teacher brings out computer-generatedrecord sheets that show their progress through increasinglydifficult objectives over a period of weeks. She remarks that

she is continually surprised at the level .of difficulty withwhich the students can cope and at the length of time that theywill concentrate on the microcomputer lessons.

The microcomputer is in use much of the day as one studentat a time works on arithmetic, language, or reading. The

teacher likes the Milliken programs and the Math Machine (bySouth West Educational Psychology Services) because they keep.!.rack of student progress as well as,providing approl;riaelearning materials.

87

Microcomputers in the Special Education Food ServicesProgram. For most of the day the special education food serv-ices room looks much like any other home economics classroom.At midday, however, it takes on the appearance of a restaurantas teachers and staff from the special education school convergeto buy lunch. Virtually all the work of preparing and servingthe hot and cold sandwiches, soups, drinks, and other items is

done by the students. Now, with the aid of two microcomputers,the students also do much of the work in maintaining inventorylists, ordering supplies, taking orders for food, and makingchange for the customers.'

The inventory and shopping lists are prepared on an Appleif-Plus (with a B&W monitor, disk drive, and printer), using theApple Marketing and Personal Shopping System (MAPS). Several ofthe students are able to enter the amounts of items used so thatthe computer can produce an updated inventory and shopping list.When new:supplies are purchased, the quantities are entered intothe microcomputer, and the microcomputer updates the inventoryagain.

The newest addition to the food services room is an HP-85microcomputer that is used like a cash register in a fast food

store. Using a program written by the teacher, the microcomputer first prints out a menu. Then, when the customer makeshis or her selections, a student enters them into the microcom-puter and a receipt is printed out. Finally, when the customerpays, the amount tendered is entered by the student and themicrocomputer shows not only the change due to the customer butalso the combination of coins needed to make up the change. In

the past, making change has been too complicated for most of thestudents in the class. The teacher opes that, with practiceprovided by the microcomput4r, some of the students will learnto make change on their own. In the mean time, themicrocomputer lets the students perform a task that they werenot: able to do before.

88

III. ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES

Centralization and Decentralization

The special. eduation microcomputers constitute a highlydecentralized system, when viewed in relationship to the

district as a whole. Within special education, one consulting

teacher has acted to develop and support microcomputer applica-tions in the schools where he provides technical assistance. He

has assumed the role of informal coordinator because of his owninterests and skills; his microcomputer activities are not part

of his formal job description.

Most applications of microcomputers in special education

are specific to particular classrooms and teachers, and they

have been implemented because of the special needs and interests

of the individual teachers involved. >There is a high level of

coordination within the gifted/talen,ed component of special

education, where ten facilitator/teachers have cooperated toobtain equipment and establish computer literacy and programming

workshops for gifted/talented students. However, this applica-

tion involves only four special education microcomputers at the

present time, and it was initiated by the teachers involvedrather than as a part of a centralized district or special

education project.

Beginning in 1981, the district has been taking steps to

develop microcomputer applications that are coordinated at the

district level. However, the special education applications

have so far been independent of the district-coordinated micro-

compute activities. While some of the special education

microco t puter users have been included in the districp planningactivites, they have not played key roles. Both curient and

planned district applications are different from those in

special education.

The district direct r of pupil Pe sonnel services, who is

responsible for special ducation, ind cates that he viewsmicrocomputers as only o e of many too s for use in specialeducation, and he has no immediate pl ns to establish a formal

position of "microcomputer coordinate ." Instead, he wants to

see all of the special education consulting teachers and super-visors become more familiar with microcomputers so that they can

deal with microcomputer applications in the normal course of

their duties.

Special and Rejular Education Interacttion

There is.very little formal collaboration between special

and regular education in the use of microcomputers. In part,

89

this is because much of the special education microcomputeractivity occurs at the self-contained special education school.Another factor is differences in the brands of microcomputersused in special and regular education.

Two microcomputers for special education students are'located in regular schools. In both of these cases, theindividual teachers have had some interaction with the regularschool teachers. In one case, first grade students are broughtinto a classroom for the orthopedically handicapped and makesome minimal use of the special education microcomputer. In theother case, a special education teacher has taken her juniorhigh school students to the school microcomputer lab. Theteacher in charge of the lab has helped the special educationteacher with software and hardware problems.

This year, the special education teacher has borrowed oneof the lab's microcomputers while the special education micro-computer has been in use elsewhere.

The gifted/talented program has established a formalprocess of cooperation with regular education. The gifted,' -talented program has several microcomputers that they move fromschool to school each day to conduct the gifted/talentedworkshops on computer literacy and programming. In some schoolswhere the workshops are held, the gifted/talented staff havearranged for the use of the microcomputers belonging to theschool, so that there will be enough microcomputers to serve allthe students.

Administrative and Instructional Applications

The division i)etween instructional and administrative usesof microcoputers ha not been an issue in Boise. The di trictuses a state-wide time sharing system for administrative pur-poses, and, while any administrators have studied the possi-bility of acquiring microcomputers, no actions have yet beentaken.

Within special education, the microcomputers are almoSt allused either for computer-assisted-instruction or for teachingcomputer literacy and programming. One exception is a Bell andHowell "Apple" computer that is used on a limited basis forcreating bus lists and software inventories. Special educationpersonnel would like to expand the management appli ations butthey do not have the time or resources to develop a majorprojects very quickly. Since personnel time (rathe thanmicrocomputer time) has been the limiting factor, no seriousconflicts have occurred in scheduling the microcomputers.

90

Training

Inservice training has been organized as needed by theindividuals involved with the microcomputers. Some of theteachers have taken computer, courses at Boise State Universityor at the University of Idaho in Moscow. Others have had back-

grounds or outside experiences with computers. Much of thetraining for the five teachers working with handicapped studentshas been provided by the consulting teacher, on an individual,as-needed basis.

The facilitator/teachers in the gifted/talented programorganized their own training. In 1980-81, they particiapted in

a computer literacy course presented by a district sixth-gradeteacher. The next year, the gifted/talented teacher from one

elementary school provided an additional semester of inservice.All of theM now have a basic understanding of the microcompu-

ters. Several hc.ve become skilled computer literacy teachers

and programmers.

With the development of district-wide microcomputer pro-jects, additional inservice training is becoming available. For

example, in the school that will house the district's pilot labfor .1,..mentary schools, most teachers, including the special

education teachers, have already received some inservice train-ing. With the advent of the new lab, additional training willalso be provided for teachers from other schools.

Emerging Roles

The role of one of 61ree special educaton consultingteachers has enlarged with the growth of microcomputer applica-

tions in special education. He now acts as the technical sup-

port person. This remains an informal position. Since there is

no formal microcomputer system in special education, there is no

.administrative role. The same consulting teacher does, however,

assist in coordinating the special education and gifted/talented

applications: Within the program foc gifted/talented students,

the planning, purchasing, and coordination are group activitiesconducted by the ten facilitator/teachers.

At the district level,. the math supervisor for the district

is the of the computer committee. However, this committee

has nct been extensively involved with the special educationuses of microcomputers.

gar

91

LARAMIE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT NUMBER ONE

Cheyenne, Wyoming

Case Study Report

Tom V.-Hanley(SRA Technologies, Inc.)

J. Lynne White(COSMOS Corporation)

I. SUMMARY NARRATIVE AND CHRONOLOGYThe School District 93

Overview of Microcomputers Studied 94

Chronology 95,

II. FEATURES OF THE MICROCOMPUTER SYSTEMIntroduction 100

Management of the Microcomputers 101

Illustrative Applications 102

CAI in Junior High School 102CAI/Computer Literacy in Elementary School 102CAI/Word Processing in High School 103

III. ORGAY:ZATIONAL ISSUESCentrblization and Decentralization 105Special and Regular Education Interaction 106Administrative and Instructional App1icatiOns 108

Traiting 109

Emer ing Roles 110

The authors are grateful to Dr. Byron A. Barry, Super-intendent, for granting permission for the Laramie County SchoolDistrict Number One, to participate in this study. We wouldlike to thank Robert L. Morissette, the Coordinator ofMathematics and Computers, for arranging our visit and assistingthe research team on site. We also appreciate the assistancegiven us by all the other educators in Cheyenne who met with usand gave generously of their time to make our efforts success-ful.

93

I. SUMMARY NARRAT E ND CHRONOLOGY

The Scnool District

Cheyenne, the capital of Wyoming, is a low-density, urbancommunity with a population of about 47,000. It is situated onflat and slightly rolling terrain, east of the Rocky Mountains,in Southern Wyoming. The community contains a mix of profes-sional, clerical, light-industry, and military personnel. Majoremployers are the state government, a nearby military base, andthe public schools.

Laramie County School District Number One provideseducational services for all students in Cheyenne and some fromthe surrounding areas (including children of personnel at the

nearby military base). The district has 23 elementary schools,3 high schools, and 3 junior high schools. The current schoolenrollment of about 13,000 represents a slight decline (about1,000) over the past few years. The student population is 79percent white, 12 percent Hispanic, 7 percent Black, and 1percent each, Asian and Native American.

Special education in the district is provided by theResearch and Pupil Personnel Services division. The centraladministration of this division includes a director and anexecutive director. There are variety of support personnel,including 58 special education teachers, 12 diagnosticians, and13 school nurses. The division also includes an EducationalResource Center (E.R.C.) which provides technical assistance,materials, and training to special education teachers and staff

in the schools. Special education services are provided to1,486 students.

1

There are a variety of computers and` computer us in theschool district. District administration has used ma nframetime-sharing and presently uses a Burroughs computer orpayroll, accounting, student records, and other administrativefunctions. At one time, computer science courses in the highschool used time-sharing terminals connected to a\universitycomputer and, later, terminals linked to the district's centralcomputer. Currently, however, instructional applications relysolely on the microcomputers that have been acquired during thepast six years.

For instructional applications, there are two distinct-groups of users in the school district. One of th se is the

ri4Vocational Education Department. They purchase t eir ownequipment (microcomputers and minicomputers) and plan andcoordinate its use in business education, vocational education,

9

94

and industrial arts. There is a committee established to plan

and supervise the Vocational Education computer applications.

The other grouP, of users consists of all of the otherteachers in the district who are currently using microcomputers.These teachers use microcomputers for secondary math andcomputer science courses, for computer-assisted instruction andcomputer literacy at both elementary and secondary levels, andfor individualized instruction in .special education._ Altogeth-er, this group currently has about 130 microcomputers: 63 in

high schools, 36 in junior high schools, 26 in elementaryschools, and 5 in district instructional -offices.

Overview of Microcomputers Studied

The 130 microcomputers that are used for instructionalpurposes have been acquired over a six-year period and include a

variety of different types. There are 66 TRS-80 units, 44 Appleunits, 14 Commodores, and 6 others (Altair, MTI, 3M). Most of

the units (99) are located in junior a-d senior high schools.Implementation in secondary schools h;:- been the major focus in

the district, although elementary applications are growing.

Special education programs in all secondary schools have

microcomputers. Two of these -- including the first microcomputer

for special education -were funded by the local chapter of theAssociation for Children with Leirning Disabilities (ACLD). The

remainder were funded with district special education funds.

The Educational Resource Center (E.R.C.), in the district'sResearch and Pupil Personnel Services division, has distributedthese units to special education teachers and has provided some

training and technical assistance regarding their use.

The microcomputers are used for a variety of applications,which include the following:

Individualized instruction for secondary spe-cial education students--learning labs in eachof the six secondary schools use microcomputersto support educational objectives and reinforce(with mainstreamed students) curriculum topicsfrom regular education programs.

Each of the secondary schools includes trainingin the use of computers as an elective area; At

the high schools, this instruction includescourses in advanced programming.

In both elementary and secondary schooiS, some

95

4

teachers are using microcomputers for computer-assisted instruction in academic areas.

At one high school, word processing programs onmicrocomputers are used to improve students'composition .for English courses, and in journal-ism classes and projects le.g., the studentnewspaper and yearbook).

Some secondary schools have microcomputers andsoftware collections in te school libraries.Students and teachers can use the equipment tofamiliarize themselves with computer.operations,or to learn or practice skills through computer-assisted instruction. N

-rChron ol

The first microccputer in the district was an Altair pur-chased in 1977 with school building funds for the math programat a hi9h'school. A year later this same math program acquiredanother Altair, plus a Radio Shack Model /I. The high schoolmath programs had been'Aysing time-sharing terminals, connectedinitially -to a university's mainframe system and, later,conducted through time-sharing with the district's own(Burroughs) computer: Beginning in 1979, other secondaryschools also began acquiring microcomputers for math and cpm-puter courses. In 1981,.one high school cut its link with time-sharing and batch processing systems, and switched completely tomicrocomputers for instructional use. By 1983,*all secondarymath/coMputer programs were relying solely on microcomputers.

CThe first two microcomputers acquired for

computer- assisted instrucEionL(CAI) and computer literacy --outside secondary math/computer science courses -- werepurchased with dittrict funds for:: 1) a junior high schoolteacher (spring 1978) and ).' a .fifth-grade elementary teacher(spring 1979) These teachis were verTinterested in thepotential-instructiohal.val(ue of microcomputers, and also feltit was important to introduce the students to this.neT.4technology.

The firet.microcomputer\used'fot instruction'in special.'educatioh was acquired by a h4gh school resource room teacher inMay 1980. A TRS-80 Model I was purchased with funds provided bythe local chapter of the Association for Children will LearningDisabilities (ACLD).

-- '. . .

.

Ail:-of these early applications of microcomputeri in thedistrict were initiated by teachers, and decisions regarding

s, 1 97

96

implementation and use, were highly decentralized:. The onlymajor exception to this was a distridt-wide planning ofcurriculum standards for the high-school comt.miter science

courses, which ocdurtedin spring 1979. kt that time, however,

most of the'computer courses relied heavilyn time-sharing andbatch processing compUter systems. The focus of the 'planningwas on programming languages, .rather than on equipment (e.g.,'

microcomputers).

By the fall of.1980,, however,. microcomputer implementationwas in place and the,district began to take steps to' organize

and, support it. A coordinator of mathematics and computers'washired and given the responsibility to direc and assist computerimplementation in the schools. Two commit es (one elementaryand.onesecondary) were formed to plan ture instructional.usesof the microcomputers. Ir? spring 1981, the first district-wideinservice training on microcomputers was offered: Instruction

was provided by the'coordinator, and teachers.received recerti-.fication credit for their participation.

During the 1981-1982 school year, use of, microcompUtersincreased, but efforts to goordihate applications were not

successful. For one.thi g, a great variety of differe t types.'

of units were in use in t e district.. Users felt they benefitedmore from interaction h others 'Who used the same equipment,

than from more general inservice training or-technical suppoit.The elementary and secondary planning committees were ./

reorganized into TRS-80 and'Apple' "uSers gropps." Additionally,

many schools were developing their own directiohs in implemen-tation, usually with the impetus of one or two local teacherswho were enthusiastic and experienced in microcomputerapplications. With Altairi, TRS-80s, and Apples already in use

in the district, one high school, in fall 1981, purchased 12Commodore PETs for instructional applications. A Title IV-Cexperimental project, using word processing to improve studentcomposition skills, was initiated at one high School.

In the ring of 1982, the Superintendent placed a "freeze"

on additional inicrocoomputer purchases with district funds until

better organization-and,planning. for'instructionl applicationscould be obtained. A centralized district. planning committeefor instructional use of microcomputers was established-Indi-,vidual representatives from'each''school p4tticipated in thiscommittee which met regularly during the fall of 1982. In

Februaiy 1983, this group, under the direction. of the districtcoordinator, submitted a plahning report Apr future use Of

microcomputers.

The. major events in. the implementation of:microcomputers in

the Laramie County School Distridt are presented in Table 1.

9,5

t

97,Table 1: Chronology of Implementation

Date,Month-Year

a

Event

Laramie CountySchool Disttict

.978 Academic Year- -_____

.

:Fall 1977 First microcomputer, Altair, pur-chased for high *sChOo1177,:pro:

;gram.. .

First microcomputer in a junior high;.school, . .

Spfing 1978

/

16178-1979 Academic Year

Fall 1978 Second. Altazir microcomputer andTRS-80 Model II purchased for highscbool math program.

Spring 1 A District-wide Olanning.committee forhigh school computer_ science programs.

first microcomputer in an elementarychool.

May 1979

1979-1980 :Academic Year

Fall 1979

0

Microcomputeis introduced in math/com-puter science courses at a second highs h ol.

9May 1980 .Microcomputer acquired for CAI in spe-

cial e cation at a-high sqpool.

N11980-1981 Academic Year

14Fall 1'680 Additional microcompulers acquired. for

secondary math/computer scienc(_cour-ses.

_raj:. 1980 District 'hires coordinator of ma ema-.

tics and computer science.

99

Fall 1980'

Spring 1981

198/-1982 Aca mic Year

Fall-1981

Fall-1081

Fall 1981

98,

Two committees(elementary, secondary).formed to plan fututp instructionaluse; of computers.

First district -wide ihservice train-.ing on computers offered.

Second-miarocomputer acquired lor.spe-cial education at a high school.,

Twelve Commodore Pets purchased with'basic skills grant for "alternative ",high school.

Title INi-C experimental project initi,ated using microcomputersas word- pro-.cessors.

Fall 1981 * Computer science program at one highschool switches from district msin-frame computer to microcomputers.

District,...wide_planning committeesorganized into "Apple Users" and "TRS-

` 80 Users.",

viSpring 1982 Cheyenne Teachers Education Associ-ation presents Saturday morning work-'shOps. on microcomputers.

Sgring 1 82 District spec 1educatioy administra-

v tive offices purchau TRS-80 Model-

Spring 1982 High school studegt computer club of-.fers evening compbter classes foradults.

Spring 1982 Superintendent places a "freeze" on

.

"distriOt-fynded microcomputer pur-cha$es.

Spring 1982 o Centralized district planning commiI7-__

tee established.o...-

Summer.1982 Local teachers present a one-day work-shop on microcomputers'for WyomingState Department o-f Education staff.

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1982-1983 Acad4ic Year

fall 1982-Winter 1983 MicrocOmputers provided by E.R.0 tosecondary special education programs,

,..

Sept,. 1982 CoMputer coordinators desigdated atone junior andone senior high

,

scl)ool.

Fa11-.1982 . -Additional microcomputert,purchasedfor secondary math/computer sciencepro9rams. U

Aprod

,:,

Microcomputers purchased with PTA atdschcol bUdlding funds in elementaryschools.

Feb 183 Comprehensive Planning Report coOple--ted by-district planning ,committpeand present to the Boar& of Trustees.

'Fall 1982

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April

r

' Districtt-wide inserviceraining oflered on "advanced uses of microcom-paters.

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II. FEATURES O %F THE MICROCOMPUTERS

Introduction.

The instructional microcomputers in Laramie Cqunty SchoolDistrict Number One are located in all 6 secondary schools and.'in 17 {of 23) elementary schools.' In addition tothe .

microcomputers in the schools, five units.are located in central. administrative offices-for instructiohal assistance. (softwarereview, special education records, and technical assistance).

In secondary schools, the predominant-use,of microcomputers.is- for computer literaby.an4 computer programthing courses. /All-three high schools and -two of the junior highs havemicrocomputer "labs" where numbers of :units are locc.I.A. The

'`ther jun.j.or high school has five. microcomputers that Are'distributed among math classrooms but can be brought togetherfor group instruction. -

Special education prosrams.in each of the secondary schoolsalso have one or two microcomputers per buildins.' Special'education teachers share these units an8 use them forindividualized instruction.' The type of equipment, software,and methods used for computer-assisted instruction in secondaryspecial-education varies from building to building. In allsituations: 'however, the particular applications are geared tothe specific deeds and educational objectives of thestudents.In the elementary schools, some special ducation'teacEers areals6 using microcomputers for Individuali ed instruction with

_.their studepts. In those cases, however, the microcomputershave not been specifically allocated to th special educationteachers, but are available for use by both special and regular

educatiOn.'%

.

< .

In general, microdhq4rts in erie'secondary schools areitatiOnary..and,deddcafed fo use in the particular instructionalprogtaM that 41-AS acquired them; in'mathicomputet:l.abs, inspecial education rooms, in libraries, in word processing .

centers, etc. ,',1 elementary schodlsm. where there are markedlyfewer microcompt.4.ers--only about one per school-Athey ate madeavailable to many teachers and students in each building. In

some ,cases the Microcomputers are on karts that can. be) wheeledbetween classrooms and storage locations. In one elementaryschool, three microcomputers are located in A partitioned .

section of the,library. Small groups of students an teachersare scheduled to use these units during each period of theschool day. .

. .

. . . rThe extent to which the microcomputers are utilized varies

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,101N.

across the district. Microcomputers in math/coatpUter labs in,Vhe secondary schools are in'ouse almost constantly duiing theschool day. Microcomputers in secondary special education°classrooms are also used heavily,, about 50 percent' of the day.The lowest utilization of microcomputers occurs in elementary,schools, where most implementation has been initiated only inthe last year. Ip at -least one 'elementary school, use was veryextensive and the three units in a media center were utilizedregulaily every'day. In other elementary schools, however,teachers are jusi,.beginning to learn how to use the equipmentan13,.use of some microcomputers is limited to a few eachweek., Across tne' district, it%was estimated thataboti, 100 .

.tachers and' bout 21800 students were making instructional, useof trhe, microcomputers.

...

I

,Management of the Microcomputers,.

. . .4_

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- During the .six years that Rdcrocomputer'S ha/e,rieen in useih Laramie District, management'of the applications has beenhighly decentralized. For the most part, individual users,and/o.r instructional programs within specific schools, havedet4rmined the type o..f ecluipment to be purchaSed and the':usethat would bemade of it.

,

. This 1.&.trike_eVen'where a siOtilar",purpose--ks common 'to7appl.ications.across a number_af schools. For.example, computerliteracy/programming courses and speCial edtcation peograms ihall seconay schools use microcomputers. Nevertheless, in eachschool the.applicationS are essentially unique and the equipMent'is different. This incompatibility of equipmeht has been'adisintentive to mutual planning and sharing of resources..

. .

.ffrom 1980 to 1982, district .efforts to coordinate 4

,

rqrdocomputer applicationk consisted largely of providing - .

.thchnical assistance, inservice training,, and general support tousers. Dut-png.the past year, however, the Superintendent and'the coordiAtor,of matheltiatios and computers have tak further-.steps-to- provide a stronger role for central'admimisttation inmanagement of the computers. One example of this is the recent(1982) policy that all decisions on microcomputer acquisitionwith diStrict'funds be managed.by th coordinator. Another

11aspect of this centraliied manwgemen is t ttphe establishmenf aplanning committee,.for instructions use of microcowuters.This group has produced a threeyear pLan'for instrtctional useof microcodputers in the schools. .-...,

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In addition, slum building pgincipals are, formalizing themanmeMent of micro mputers in their-. own schools, byidentifying ode -y persj to coordino4t applicationsarossclasses. Durin e 1982 -1983 school year, two schookt-based .

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"coordinators" were appointed bwprincipals:

Illustrative Applicaiio;s

To provide an idea of tow,Lhe microcomputers are being usedin the C'neyenne schoo1.3, three illustrative 'applications aredescribed ,below.

Computer-Assisted Instruction in Ahior High SchoolLearning Lab. The spacial E,ducatioti programgat a junior highschoolhas two TRS-80 Model III microcomputers with disk drivesand printers. One is located in a elfcontained classroom;anothe; is in the les/ming lab, .

A 'coximately 50 staients t'se the learning lab each day;

but no ore than 10 at a time. The lab is staffed With twospecial education. teachers and a teacher assistant. Themicrocomputer is scheduled inhaif-hour blocks for each student.Specific educational softwse which reflects individualizededucational objective is selecte6 for each student. Newstudents are scheduled for a one-houz introductory leison oncomputer. operations. There are also posters, on the wall nearthg_ Microcomputer, that remind students of the steps required toopetlkhe unit.

The educational soitware is kept_ in_ ring - binders and

organized by-subject area. In addition to curriculardrill-and-prac:tio4 materials (in mathematics, spelling,vocabulary, reading), the teacher. also uses wOONprocessingsoftware with the students to improve iheig cdfvositionShe alsoahas commercial software on typin4-training.

r.

When it-is time for a studbnt to use the microcomputer, theteacher'gives the student'a smakl card identifying tile software

,' to be. used. The card also indicates the number of time% each-instructional package should be run. 16 most cases, thestudents are required to run each CAI program at least

twice --the-teacher-feets that repetition of the-materials-isuseful.

e . ,

After using the microcomputer, -the student returns thiscard to the teacher with marks indioating-that.the lessons. were

compi'eted. The tOacher uses these cards to maintain a record -ofthe CAI that each student halompleted. .

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CAI / Computer Literacy in Elementary Scadtol Media,Center.The impetus-for microcomputers at one elementary, schooi actuallycame from a ,local parent group, !''Parents That Care" (PTC). -They wanted microcomputefs in the school and the principal .

actively supported their irciTta-t-i-Ve.rThe-PTC-provided some-seed'0

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money towards the purchase of the first unit; district andschool` funds were used to provide the rest. Three. Apple IIunits with disk drives and one printer were purchased:

The microcomputers,were set up on tables- in a corner of theschool library, creating a "computer nook." The students are-scheduled fot half-hour periods,throughout the day to use themicrocomputers. The teacher told-us than the microcomputers aretreated as,"our" program- -the school's and the students'--and"everyone. is responSible" for them. All users are on an "honor

^system" and there is usually no direct supervision ij3. thelibrary._

The coordinating teacher forthe microcomputers is a secondgrade teacher. Wheh the sthdol received the computers, she setup a "multiplier effect" inservice and student training program.She individually taught each teacher (19) how to use themicrocomputers. Each teacher came to the media center d ring 4free period, along with five students from the teacher's class.Thepe initial students were then required_ o each trainother student. As each student was train d, they in turn had totrain another student, until all (430) students in the elemn-'-tary school knew how to use the equipment. Now,'all, teachers

the microcomputers for instructional support with their. students and participate in the regular -scheduling of students

. to the computer lab.. \--

CAI/Word Processing for High.Sohool_Engliih.Classes: ATitle IV-C experimental project uses microcomputers as wordprocessors to enrich high school students' composition &kills.The project started in fall of 1981 and the first year

,,(1981-,1982) was a pilot study--with only fifteen students.During the second year, 36 students participated officiallyalong with a number of other students and teachers.

The originator of this "Developing Computer Software- toTeach Writing Skills" project was a high school Englishteacher/department chairperson! During the 1982-1983 school,yeat;Alewas_appainted"-computer-coordinatot" for the school and

IJA,provides tec ni)Cal assistance to other users. Beginning in fall1983; hall o I is time will be devoted to computer applicationsin the high school.

'The project is very straightforward. Students are trainedt to use a word processor (Scripsit) to write their compositions

for English classes. There are four microcomputers in'thisprograd. Each is a TRS-780_Mode1 1II.mith-dualidlsk_dzives_.There are also two letter-quality printers. THree of the micro-computers arein a converted counselor's office; the fourth isin the teacher's office.

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Students use the microcomputers during free periods orstudy hall periods. Students can schedule themselves for use ofthe computers or can drop by to see if one is available. Theteacherireported that the. program has been very successful:student use of the microcomputers for word processing is high;definite improvements- in composition skills have been evidenced;students are producing trove writing now than before using themicrocomputers.

An additional effect of the project has been the recentintrOduction of microcomputers with word processors into thejournalism courses at the high school. The English teacher hastraine.0 the journalism teachers. Two more TRS-80 Model III,units -4ere purcha.ted. The microcompulers are used not only inthe journalism courses but also,to cApose the school't studentnewspaper .

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III. ORCIAN IZATIONAL ISSUES

Centralization and Decentralization

The purchase of'microlomputers appears to be the most'centralized aspect of microcomputer implementation in the,district'. Purchase of equipment with district funds requiresfinal approval by'dthe Superintendent. Teache s' requests formicrbcoMputers'are first screened by the distr'ct's planningcommittee which includes representatives from ach school.Based on the teachers'_*peciTied interests and needs, additionalmicrocomputers are purchased and allocated. Once a microcom-puter.s allocated to a school or teacher, its specific locationand use are determined by the principal or teachers within tl-re

. school. In two.schoolS, computer coordinators have beenappointed -by the principals.

Microcomputer purchases are not handled by the district'scommittee if special funding is . involved. 'Special ,educationmicrocomputer purchases are coordinated separately by theEducational Resource Center. The microcomputers areallocatedto special education classrooms in specific schools: However,once the microcomputers are in the special education classrooms,theirsehe-d-u-l-in-g and usteachers.

Efforts to coordinate the district' microcomputers haveincluded various computer committees es ablishedby the

=ft coordinator of mathematics and computer The original computercommittee was organized .into groups of elementary and secondaryteachers to discuss educational applications of the'mThrocomputers. The\ following year, the committee regroupedinto "Apple users" and "TRS-80 users" to facilitate the sharingof resources and software. The most recent committee wasorganized at the Superintendent's reques in the,fall-of 1982,- to.design a three-year_plan for microcomputer use, in thedistrict. The Superintendent desire:' more cez.tralizationbecause some microcomputers in the o.strict were not fully used,even though teachers kept requesting more units. Also, he wasconcerned about the problem of software incompatibility with .somany different kinds of.hardware in the schools. Thecommittee's plan, completed in February 1983,. outlines apurchaSing schedule and impleme ation plan for futuremicrocomputers, with recommendati for hardware types andsoftware, training, and coordination, procedures.

The Vocational Education., Department has a separate butsimilar committee for planning and coordination, as the directorsees their microcomputer needs as being different. The special

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education administration also has some separate 'coordinationefforts through the Educqional Retource Center, which hasacquired microcomputers for 'each- secondary school.'s specialeducation dePtiment andhas,a software collection in a centralresource library.

Another centralization step supported by the district,

coordinator and the planning committee is the tdenOlicationwithin schools of "resident experts" in microcomputers. Thesekey persons would act as computer coordinators for trhe staff byproviding technical assistance, informal training, new software_programs, and other resources. At two schools; computercc;ordinator positions have been formalized by the prinCipals andtAae ha* been allocated to computer responsik,ilifies for these'door,:...T:'etors. Through the computer coordinators at lobch site,the district's coordinator hopes'to manage the diStrict'scomputer programs more effectively,: -In addition, 'communicationbetween schools about microcomputer use is expected to improve.

The district's coordinator has attempted to 'Centralize the

district's software. He would like to consolidate all theprograms into a master collection with a catalog, OUt theschools have not yet provide im with their softwate_llstipgs.Presen..1y,.individual teachers or departments within each schoolhave aepa-r-ates,-ef-tvareacquired with building funds Or classroom supply monies.

The coordinator feels, that this'difficulty'in consolidatinthe software reflects the basic decentralization of actualicrocomputer implementation in each sthool. It has been his

p *losophy to simply provide resources and support to interestedteachers, and not to control the process. (In 19111, a Title igrant 'required some teachers to adopt microcomputers and'attendtraining sessions. This resulted in negative feelings andunused equipment.) Basically, the coordinator handles. purchaserequests, acquires new softvAre, provides some-"hands-on"_experience.to new users, coordinates some training, andorganizes computer committees.

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Special and R ular Education

No unusual collaboration occurred betWeen Special andregular education in the adoption of microcomputers. One of the '

first microcomputer users in the ddstritt'was a high schoolspecial education teacher. She secured funding in 1980 from theAsSociatIon for Students with-Learnins Disabitfttes 1ACLD)purchaig-1 TRS-80 Model I. Apart from a math/computer scien eteacher, she was the only other staff person at the high schoolwith a microcomputer and,at that time, the only special edu--cation teacher-l-tbe-d-istrict-tq-u-tillze-the-mew-technology-

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Based. 0-n her success in-using the microcomputer for computer-assisted-instruction in.basic skills with her students, other .

teachers soon became interested in microcomputers.

As more, microcomputers were purohLised at this high school,the, special education'teacher was instrumental in providingintroductory training and securing software on an informal basisfor the new users. The computer science teacher was also aresource to the other teachers. .He provided technical assis-tance, helped with software, and equipment maintenance. Bothregular and special education teachers continue to rely on theseinitial usersfor training and technical assistance.

IrS the fall of 1981, the special education teacher workedwith the other teachers and with the district's coordinator toestablish'a _.T.RS=80 users group in the district. The purpose ofthis group was to informally discuss applications.'and saftwareprograms, and to share resources. Both revlar and specialeducation te.Achers-in the district participated and no distinc-tion was made between he two staffs.

The director of °pupil personnel services, who is _respon-sible for special education services, decided irk 1982, toprovide all secondary special e4eetion learning labs with atleast one microcomputer, Several high school special educationteachers had already acquired units-and there was expressedinterestemong the others for microcomputers, The funding andpurchase of the special education microcomputers was coordinatedby the directot of the EducatiOnal ResourCe Center. The E.R.C.is a district-wide curriculum and resource library for special'education teachers. There are plans for the E.R.C. to extendits resources and services to include microcOmpUter use andspecial education software programs. However, to date' only oneeducation resourospecialist is adequately prepated to providetraining.and.saftwarz,-- Consequently, special education teachersstill rely, to some degree, on the.diStrictcoordinator and onother teachers fat assistance. They attend the generalainingsessiotils provided by the district. There has been no inservicetraining spedifically tailored to special eduCation applica-tions.

dia- education independently. fiom other district purchases.The E.R.C. purchases and allocates microcomputers in spe-

cial-educationand Use of the microcomputers areoleft-up to the

individal special education teachers. At the school level,collaboration occurs-in-ormally between regular and specieleducation teachers: thek-,exchange.:software, resources, andexperiences. In two seconda-ry schools, the "computer coordi-nators" assist special educati.-6n:aS well as other teachers withoperating instructions, purchasing-jsoftware, land maintenance.This assistance and informal collabora tion between teachers has

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been-tmp.ortsnt to the utilization of the microcomputers in th

secondary school learning labs.

There is very little use of microcomputers by elementary speceducation teachers. None of the elementary special educationteachers have acquired their own microcomputers. Use of micrcomputers by elementary special educatiOn students is limitedthose schools where interest among the special education staf

leads to shared use-of the available equipment.

Administrative and. Instructional Applications

The district has not develo#ed plans.to use.microcomputEfor administrative applications. A mainframe system has beerused ,for/administrative functions.' After using the Universitof I4omingfs mainframe computer on a time-sharing basis forcomputer science, courses in the high school, the districtdecided to purchase its own computer 'system. The district'scomputer (Burroughs) was acquired for central administrationfdr computer programming courses at the high schools (but fol

other instructional purposes). With increasing use of thecomputer fox.administrative functions, secondary ptogtamtingcourses have transferred completely to reliance on 'microcomputers.

.

There are a few instances in the district where micro-computers acquired for instructional purposes are also beingused for. Some administiative tasks. In the elementary school!the microcomputers. are used almost exclusively by the teachesfor,computer-assisted instruction: drill-and-practice,reinforcement, and skill games. However, a few teachers arealso using the microcdmpUters,for'classroom management taskssuch as grade reporting and curriculum inventories. At thejunior high level, the microcomputers are used for computer-assisted-instruction in computer labs or in special .educatioi

learning labs. However, one junior high school has amicrocomputer in the office for student records and attendan,and.the special education teachers use their microcomputer f

student evaluation data and for scheduling IEP meetings. A

teachers are using word processing with microcomputers to.wr

cur-ticula. Microcomputers in the high schools, are also usedcareer counseling and or cataloging short story collect-4:6ft

the high school libra y.

The'histoty of Microcoftputer adoption in the district e

./." plains to some degree.the"mphasis_on_instructional usage.first microcomputers in Cheyenne were acquired, without distinvolvement, by individual teachers. using a variety of localfunding sources. _Acting independently of each other, theSeinitial adopters were interested in using microcomputers for

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instructional purposes (computer literacy/programming and CAI)in their classrooms. The successful claisroom use of the firstmicrocomputers generated interest among other teachers who thenrequested the district to purchase more microcomputers. Inresponse/to these decentralized developments, the- Superintendentcreated the position of coordinator of mathematics and com-puters. The new role clearly placed microcomputer use withincurriculum and instructional .areas.

At the same time,.central edministration began budgetingfunds for the purchase of microcomputers for instructionaV use.It was-the coordinator's responsibility, in conjunction with th(district's planning committee, to review teachers' requests formicrocomputers and, in turn, to coordinate the allocation ofunits for instructional purposes. MOst of the software pur-chased by the district (both public domain and commercial) hasbeen educational in nature.

Training

The initial adopters of microcomputers in the Cheyenne.schools were either self- taught or received training outside _ofNthe district. It was not until the position of coordittor ofmathematics and computers-was created that district-spOnsoredtraining was offered to the teachers---Beginning in the fall of1980, the coordinator has regularly provided some introductoryorientation and training in computer operations to individualteachers acquiring new microcomputers. Introductory trai-ningalso has been provided by the coordinator in after-schoolsessions at the high school computer-labs. The workshopscovered computer operating instructions and were orientedtowards either TRS-80 or Apple microcomputer users. Thecoordinator also has offered evening courses in programming thacould be taken by teachers for recertification credit.Initially, the courses were-too advanced for the teachers'%experience and interest. Now, however, teachers are intergsteain learning programming and the course will be re-offered in thfall of 1983.

In the spring of 1982, two initial users of microcomputersin the district (a high school computer science teacher and anelementary teacher) offered a series of two four-hour, Saturdaymorning workshops to 22 teachers. These workshops, which wererepeated in the fall, were sponsored by the Cheyenne TeachersEducation. Association. The workshops included an introductionto computer operations and BASIC programming, ana demonstrationon debugging programs and adapting software to meet instruc-tional needs. The district now sponsors the workshops fourtimes a year and provides substitute teachers sa they can beheld during the school week. It is estimated that over 200

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teachers he attended at leaSt one of the workshops.

High school students have beensteaching a five-week eveningcourse in computer.. iteracy and BASIC programmin as a fund-raising event for theit.:computer,club. The cour e, firitoffered in the spring of 1982', hasibeen heavily ubscribed byboth teachers and residents inthe district. Th 'aintroductorycourse,has been taught five times and is now followed by a newcourse in,advanced.progreoming..

In -fall 1'982, i.,high school English teacher, who initiatedan experimental project on using microcomputers to developstudents' writing skills, started providing word. processingworkshops to teachers. The positive response among staffmembers has resulted in three additional word processing in-service sessions this year.,

In addition to these training opportunities, the', Universityof Wyoming offers a semester course in BASIC programming, andthe Wyoming State Department of Education in Cheyenhe provides _

state =wide workshops on microcomputer use and edUcational appli=cations: Another source of training in the district has beenthe informal assistance provided by teachers to each other-inthe schools. Teachers active in using miCrocomputers haieserved as a resource to other'staff on ah individual need basis.In one junior, high schoo ,l, a teacher is' responsible- --for ongoingiraining as part of his allotted time to the school's micro-:computer program.

The "resident expert" in microcomputers at an elementaryschool has taught every teaoher,.aide,-secretaryl and theprincipalAgring her free periods to operate the microcomputers.1She-also trained five students at each grade level, who in turneach trained mqie students until.everyone in the school was ableto utilize4the-microComputers.

Emerging Roles

In the fall -of 1980, the Superintendent c.rea.ted. the posir

rtion of coordinator of mathematics and coTpuirs as part of hisefforts to centralize the district's computer /programs. TheSuperintendent believed that someone was needed to'begin deter-mining the district's-microcomputer needS4n to coordinate theacquisition and allocation of new equipment,

\The coordinator divides his time betwee4 the district's

mathedatics programs and managing thedtcro omputer use in the

schooli. Part of his-main responsibility .1 the, coordination ofall microcomputer purchases with district unds. All reqliests (

for microcomputers are reviewed by a planning committee and the'coordinator, before final purchasing "decisions are made. Once

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microcomputers are allocated to teachers, the coordinatorprovides some introductory training and technical assistance.He has presented district-wide'workshops on computer literacyand operations, and several evening courses on microcomputerprogramming for teachers.

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The coordinator has been collecting and reviewing publicdomain software which he makes available to. the schools. Also,he purchases and reviews commercial.software for a districtmaster collection. The coordinator has plans to set up alib,r4.,ryof software with a catalogue for the teachers.

In addition, the coordinator has been instruchental inorganizing several committees over the last three years toassist microcomputer implementation in thertrict..'The firstcommittee coneisted of elementary and secon ary groups of,teachers, representitg each school, who discussed the possibledee of microcomput.?.rs in the schools. Later, committees.wereorganized of microcomputer users with different hardware typesso they could share softiaare and resources. Presently, the i

_,- coordinator chairs a committee of teachers that has developed athree-year pla% for microcomputer purchases and programs in thedistri . It is the coordinator's responsibility to insure the-;implem tation of the plan's guidelines and recommendations.

The only other new roles in.the district-are those ofcomputer coordinators in a fe'w schools.: Usually, an earlyddopter of microcomputers or a computer enthusiast informallytakes.on the role by serving as a resourceNto the other staff.In two schools, the position has been formalized .with timeallocated to computer responsibtlities including training,maintenance, technical assistance, and acquiring new softwareprograms. The three -year microcomputer plan recommends -thateach school designate a key teacher asoordinator with '

scheduled time fo computer assistance.

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COMMACK UNION FREE SCHOOL - ';DISTRICTCommack, New

_/

Case Study-Report

J. Lynne. White(COSMOS corporation)

Robert K. YinCOSMOS Corporation)

I. SUMMARY NARRATIVE AND CHRONOLOGYThe School District 1 115Overview of Microcomputers Sttplied 116Chronology 1171011

I. FEATURES OF THE MICROCOMPUTERSIntroduction .

123Management of the Microcomputers 1124Illustrative Applications , 125

Computer Education in Elementary Schools. 125Computer Programming and Word Trocessing,... 125

4

'III, ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUESCentralization and Decentralization...- .....Special and Regular Edutation InteractionlAdministrative and Instructional-ApplicationsTrainingEmerging Roles-

127128129130131

The authors are grateful to Dr. Joseph Del Rosso, Superin-. tendent, for granting permistion for the Commack Union Free

Schdol District to participate in this study. We would like tothank Edward Cain, Jr., Director of Student. Services, and Dr.Dolores Shanahan, Computer Curriculum Specialist,. for arrangingthe visit and assisting the research team on site. We also ap-preciate the many staff people and teachers who met with us andgaite generously of their time to make our efforts successful.

'or

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I. SUMMARY NARRATIVE AND CHRONOLOGY

The School District

The Commack School District ifs located in Syffolk County onLong Island, New York. The district serves-a community'of ap-,)proximately 41,000, with the majority of the residents repre

_

seating Socio-economic levels ,ranging from upper-middle -tarlower-middle, class. The district does not have Any industrywithin its boundaries, so emplcitment is found in neighbqringareas `of Long Island or within New York City.

.

The current studeklt enrollment infthe Commack ScheDistrict is 0,200, reflecting-a-preaamstely-%tdte-Lehili-c.coffiposition. ThiS student Opulat.ion has declined at,both,theelementary and secondary levels. Eleven years earlier, in'theyear of the distrir-4-'s highest enrollment, it had azztotal 9f15,2130 students ana 21'school buildings. The.steadINdecline inenrollment has resulted in staff layoffs and school c osings.The district is now housed in seven elementary schools two'junior high-schools, and two high. schools, with adminis irative

offices an old':school site.

Approximately 600 students receive special education ser-vices in the-district, from a staff of 35 special educationteachers And 40 teacher.assistants. Each of the elementaryschools has a:resource room and reading lab toserve specialeducation students, and five of. the seven elventary schoolshave a self-Contained classroom as part of their special educa-tion program'. At the secondary level, all the schools hale aresource roam and self-contained classrooms for their specialeducation students

$

The district makes extensive use of several diffekent com-puter systems,. some directly serving studenti with specialneeds. ,The diStrictls largest system, two Hewlett-Packard-300minicomputers with 70 interactive terminals and 21 pribters, isused primirily by special educatioh and temedial students for

drill and practice and VRoblem-N °lying in readings language .arts

and.tathematics. Some of the t rtinals are used. in. the' highschools for programming courses and in the guidance offices forcareer counseling programs. The e are afso ten time-sharingterminals that are part of the B CES/LIRICS instructionalcomputer system used by high school students in bothsecondary schools for advanced.programming and 0 specialeducation students, in one elementary school_ for basic skill(instruction.

The district also has 70 micrOcomputers (55 Commodore PETs,

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A

1 Texas1 Instrumjit,' 13 Compuccilors, and 1 Apple II-Plus), whichare used for a variety of_ instructional appliiationsiwith spe-

.cdal and regular educatibn students. Of these, 57 can be con-sidered:part of .t .same organizational system: the 55.CommodorePETs, the 1 texas stmAnt, and the one_Apple.II-Plus."_The.13Compucol:ots ate-4-S partite system 16catedat the high schoolsfor computer cienc courses.

In addition, the district has two Commodore -8032s in the'r'central office, which are used by the director of student ser-Nvices for administrative and management functions:

Ovefview of Microcomputers Studied

Of the 70 microcomputers in the CoMmack School District,,

this case studyfpcused on the-57 used primarityNith specialeducation and remedial Students. Because the district has a.separate computer system for formal compensatory education(drill and practice and problem-solvihg) and computer-managed-instructioni the microcomputers tend tobe used more for indi-vidualized or innovative purposes. Among. the applications are:

NIn one elementary school resource room,q..two second-grade and five sixth-grade special education *studentsare learning to Write their own computer programs inBASIC. J

c.)

Junior -high special education and remedial studentsare using Commodore PETs for word processing to de-veiop their wri_t_ten expression skills. The studentshave used.ichis piocegs to produce several magazinesof their stories.,'

Elementary students are using district-developed"early- learning" software that focuses.Olt the basicsof reading and mathematics. --The "early leaining"programs involve such skills as memory activities,problem solving, visual'disCrimihation, lik4nessesand differences, and spatial relati"onships4:

All math students at thejuniot:high level 'attend aten-day computer aware4ss course which includes"handson" experience in operating he computer and.an introductpnto programming.

. .

o-Kindergarten'and first-grade stud nts are learningLOGO. language on a Texas Instrument microcomputer'

-Noilocated in a'resoUrce room.

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117

Chronology

In the fall of 197,7, a high school computer teacher and anelementa-ry---,etlal-education----teache'r proposed----a---pilotprogranr-tointroduce computers to elementary students. Prior to that time:computer use in the Commack school district had been limited toteaching .computer science in the high schools.

. _

With TitiO-IV-C funds, Project CAL (ComputeriFed Acceler-. ated Learning) was established at one elementary school.. Allstudents in grades K-6 had access to a BOCES/LIRICS computerterminal in a resource room for basic skill instruction.(BOCES/LIRICS is an.insructiOnA; computer system with on-1441e,

-tiiii6==Sharing service for participating districts ln` SuffolkCounty.)

Based on the positive results of the pilot project, the1 district decided to expand the program to all the elementaryschools in the following school rear. HoweVen, the cost of moretime-sharing BOCES/LIRICS terminaias was prohibitive:,,s6 the dis-trict purchased ten Commodore''PET microcomputers wieti Title IV-Bfunds instead. A microcdMputer was placed in. each elementary .

school's resource room. The special educatiori teaCter:ori-,ginally.involved in the_. pilot project was responsible for train-ing one staff member at each school in computer operations.Parent volunteers were iikturn,trained,during afternoon work-shops,.to assist in the.rbsource rooms.

a,

,The lack, of appropriate software prompted the district todevelop its own Aicrocomrsilter programs. During the glimmpr of19/9, the spec.is-31.veducatron-t-eaeier-d-eve-lb-p-a approximate-I-y:1W"developmentally sequenced, multi -- sensory" software programs.High school, students were then hited to program these to thedeveloped specifications.ws (The programs are now sold to otherdistricts through a non - profit corporation, COMCAL, establishedby the district in 1980./ The revenues are reinvested into thedistrict's educational programs,

As Commack's compute'/ activities continued to expand, apart-time district position of computer curriculum specilist (

° was created for the special education teacher in the fall-of1979. In this position, under the dirOction of the director of_student services; she is responsible for developing computerprojects; providing staff development, aihd coordinating the pur-chase, allocation, and use of equipment. (The' special educationteacher retained her teaching responsibilities for the rest of:.the't1me.)

The computer curriculum specialist offered, the first

117

11.8;_

0, .

.7. teacher training session on computer awareness in.the spring

1980. Presently, five computer courses are available to

teachers, including computer awareness, programming, .word. pxo-

-. cessing, and computer graphics. In the summer of 1980, the Com-

- --..pute-r,:cu-rx1culuMsPec4alist-was instrumental_in%establisninga_regional committee of teachers and administrators to7develop acomprehensive K-12 computer literacy program.

,..In the fall of 1980, additional Commodore RET microcompu-ters were purchased with Title IV-B funds for the resource roomsat the junior-and senior high schools. 4iord processing andprogramming were implemented for the special education andremedial students sir by'the resource rooms. At the same

time, 'the district w awarded 'a state'grant, tsing ,SEA) Part B(P.-L.--94.-1-42.)---eloW-t-h-r-oug-h---andES_EA_Cha.ter 1- fundsl- to purchase

itWo'Hewlett-Packard minicomputers and 7 - terminals for a

_______

computer assisted instructional system ith management ca-pabilities in'reading, math, language arts and pr'oblem-solving.About 1500 students in grades 1-12 use, thx-terminals fordrilland practice and diagnostic analysis of skills. Since the

terminals are devoted exclusiVely to the STRIDE/DOLPHIN program,it allows themicrocomputers to be used for applications, not

. requiring recbrdkeeping of students' performance.a.

In the dbademic year 1981-82, more Commodore PET Microcom-puters were purchased for-the elementary schools, withpCIA-Chapter II and PTA funds. The microcomputers Were placedtpn carts to be ijed in each teacher's classroom on a rotatingschedule. *Additional computers were purchased with ECIA-ChapterII funds to equip the junior high schools with computer labs, to

__hp used all math students for a ten-day computer literacy

1'

___Cturse.

Duting4the same year, programming' activities were extendedto elementary-school resource rooms. A programMing course was`implemented under Project APT, a Nassau County BOCES Title VIresearch program; for elementary; gifted handrapped studenti.'

It has since expanded to an intermediate, sel - (contained special

education classroom. Instruction is provided by a federallyfunded, computer' intern who is a graduate, student from a local

college. In addition; a multi-year research and curriculum wri-

ting study was started, to teach LOGO. to primary grade students:

The Huntington/Commack Collaboratiye Education SoftwareProjec wa .nitiated in the 1982-83 school year to review andevaluate comm rcial software programs. In September 1982, a .

special sessio on computer awareness,was held for the elemen-

tary and secodary piincipals. Four. wrkshops, each coverlag__

one- putexIprosramir-werv_coaducted_l_o_r_the_dis=trict s adminis rators. Both inservices were intended to inform

those in leadership. positions of the district's computer ac-

119

tivities, and to encourage further involvement aDvill-ssupvrt.

The major events in the implementation of microcomputers inthe Commack School District are presented in Table 1.

A

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Table 1: Chronology of Implementation'

DateMonth-Year Event

Commack

1977-1978 Acadmic Year

Sept. 1978

June 1978

$

$

Project CAL (Computerized Accel-erated Learning) provided a BOCES/LIRICS computer terminal in oneelementary school.

Project CAL - N.Y. State Title IV-Cmini-grant for software program de-velopment by gifted high school stu-dents under the direction of thespecial education teacher.

1978-1979 Academic Year

Sept. 1978 Expansion of Project_CAL_vwith_pur7__chaseof tea Commodore PETs for ele-

- Mentary-level, special education re-source rooms.

June 1979

1979-1980 Academic Year

Software programs coded in BASIC formicrocomputers wer_e_sie_veloped by thespecialU-cation teacner using dis-trict-paid high school students toprogram them.

Creation of part-time position ofcomputer curriculum specialistfor elementary -special educationteacher:

First teacher training sessions on'computer awareness, BASIC program-ming, word processing, a6d computergraphics (14 hours).

Establishment_of nonprofit_corpora-tion, COMCAL, to sell microcomputersoftware.

12

June 1980

1980-1941 Academic Year

Sept. 1980

Sept,. 1980

April 1981`

1981-1982 Academic Year

Sept. 1981--

Sept. 1981

March 1982

121

Participated in regional K-12 com-puter education committee .to devel-op comprehensive computer literacycurriculum. _ -

Expa'sion of microcomputers withTitle IV-B funds to junior andsenior high school resource rooms.

Purchase two Hewlett-Packardminicomputers-and-7t-terminats----for computer-managed-instruction.

PurChase of printers and disk drivegfor microcomputers in junior highschool resource rooms for word pro-cessing.

Project APT: Programming coursefor elementary §ifted handicappedstudents.

Adult education courses offered inprogramming on microcomputers.

Inservice sessions for district ad-ministrators on word processing, BigTrak, LOGO, and Hewlett Packard sys-tem.

1982-1983 AcademicYear

Sept. 1982

Sept. 1982

Sept. 1982

District inservice for elementaryand secondary principals on computerawareness.

Purchase of microcomputers for com-puter labs in the two junior highschools.-

Expansion-of Project -APT to program-ming course for intermediate, self-contained.classroom in special edu-cation.

_.

Sept. 1962

Sept. 1982

122

Word processing pilot program in oneelementary school.

Huntilgton/CommacRCOITabbtatIV-e---ucation Software project establishedto evaluate commercial programs.

4

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II. FEATURES OF, THE MICROCOMPUTERS

Itroduction

Of the entire array of'computers and microcomputers in theunmack School District, 57 microcomputers are the focus of this-ise study. These include the 55,Commodore PET microcomputers,pip e with either cassette players or disk drives and seven.a 19 MX-100 printers. The other two microcomputers are onemas %Instrument and one Apple .II-Plus.

Most of the 55 Commodore PETs are located in the resource)oms of all the elementary and secondary schools. In addition,Leh elementary school has several mobile Commodore PETs, loca-0 on-Carts, that are rotated among all the classrooms on a:e-set,schigule. One of the elementary schools has a lab that)ntains three Commodore PETs.

Both junior high s pools have computer labs equipped withfight to ten Commodore ET microcomputers in their mathapartments. Two Commodore PETs are located in the district'sifted/talented program, which is housed at the central ad-iniitration building.

The Texas Instrument unit is located in.the elementary com-iter lab. The Apple II -Plus microcomputer As located in one ofle elementary school resource rooms.

Microcomputer use in the elementary school resource rooms3 by special" education, compensatory education, and remedialtudents. The -students are sent to the resource rooms by theirLassroom teachers on an individual basis throughout the schoolay, for basic skills,.word processing, and programming instruc-ion. The computers are in constant use, and there is even aafore-school and after-school schedule in most resource roomsOr additional computer time.

The mobile microcomputers in the elementary schools are..7heduled for one classroom for an entire day, so that each stu-ant has some access to a microcomputer on a regular basis. Allindergarten students have time each week to learn a primitiveDGO language, Big Trak. The two Commodore PETs in theistrict's gifted/talented program are utilized on a daily basisy students learning programming.

heCommdaore PETs in the junior high and high school re-ource rooms are used in the same way as the elementary schoolesour e rooms' microcomputers, and there is evidence of contin-ous- u . In one junior high resource room, all of the students

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are using the migraphics. The clized by all thecourse.

124

rocomputers for word processing and computermputer labs in the junior high schools are uti-math students for a ten-day, computer literacy

One of the/distinctive features of microcomputer use in thedistrict is the / .substantial assistance given to students by oth-

er teachers and specialists- -e.g., parent volunteers, teacherassistants, orithe student intern. In all the special educationapplications,. 'here was at least one adult working with everytwo or three students, talking with the student and.reinforcingthe information being presented by the microcomputer. Suchintensive use / f human instruction seems to be an important way

of enriching e microcomputer learning experience.

Management of the Microcom uters

The Coover the pasAs this hasfor of stUdeized positiosponsible fofederal fundcurriculum dadministratilbeing the diJstudent sergarding hissponsible,the specialtion psychoriculum spe

Withare two keycomputer cuto purchasecific fundisources ofdent's apprcomputer cdevelopmencoordinateapplicatio

Therewhen a pripurchase uriculum spschools, svolved in

ck School District has been reducing its stafffew years in response to its declining enrollment.

appened, more general positions, such as the direc-t services, have emerged and replaced more special-s. Thus, the director of student services is re-functions related to special education as well ascompensatory education, pupil personnel services,

velopment, and computer programs.- Before the

e consolidation, his position had-been limited torector of pupil personnel services. :The director ofices reports directly to the Superintendent re-special education and other activities. He is re-

n conjunction with the principals, for supervisingeducation teachers. In addition, the special educa-ogist, a lead reading teacher, and the computer cur-ialist all report directly to him.

egard to the management of the microcomputers, therepositions--the director of student services and thericulum specialist--who jointly make the decisionsand locate the microcomputers, and to initiate spe-g applications. Once the hardware is determined andunding are secured, -the two then get the Superinten-val. After the microcomputers are installed, thericulum specialist, who is responsible for theof new computer programs in the district, usuallythe use of the microcomputers and monitors news with the teachers on an informal basis.

has been some isolated adogtion of microcomputerscipal, in conjunction with the PTA, has decided toits for a school. However, because the computer cur-cialist is so involved in the computer use in the

e is usually consulted on these purchases and is in-he ensuing implementation.

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Illustrative Applications

To provide an idea of how the mic ocomputers are being usein Commack 's schools, two illustrative applications are des-cribed below.

Computer Education in Elementary Schools. Kindergartenstudents in the district are approaching problem-solving tasksby using a robot-like tank (Big Trak) that can be programmed tofollow directions. It is part of an early-learning researchproject to teach space and shape concepts in preparation forlearning more abstract concepts with the LOGO language on amicrocomputer. Specific learning objectives have been esta-blished for this early childhood computer education project andeach student is monitored aeco ding to the number of attemptsneeded to master each skill. S udents are asked to program therobotto_solve simple problems ike moving_a certain distance ormanueveri6gthrough a maze.'

The kindergarten students proceed to microcomputers and theLOGO language in the first grade. Learning LOGO requires atransfer of learning from the concrete to the abstract by movingfrom a toy robot to the symbols on the microcomputer screen.First grade students are taught the concepts of space, angles,shapes, and grids using Turtle graphics. The computer activi-ties present situations in which students have to analyze the itthinking and...develop problem-solving skills.

The Texas Instruments microcomputer in the elementary re-source room is used to teach LOGO to the students. Students aresent individually to the resource room during a scheduled timeeach week for twenty minutes to receive instruction from eitherthe computer intern or a trained parent volunteer. All of thefirst grade teachers will soon be trained in the curriculumdeveloped for the LOGO program.

Computer Programming and Word Processing. Simple program-ming and word processing are being taught to special educationand remedial students at One of the junior high schools. Thisapplication began three years ago when one.Commodore PET wasdelivered to the resource room. Students started by using sometypewriters in conjunction with a simple computer typing programto learn the keyboard and gain some facility in operating thecomputer. The next step involkred learning to load and run someof the district-developed software programs in various skillareas.. The students used different programs for drill andpractice in math facts, spelling, and vocabulary, and for prac-ticing eye-hand coordination and visual discrimination. Thestudents were required to read directions independently and todemonstrate and explain programs to other students.

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The microcomputer was used by students individually or in

pairs on a rotating schedule. The number of students in theresource room varies at any given time but is usually around tenor twelve. Three special education teachers and one teacherassistant provide constant direction and individual instructionwith the microcomputer.

When three additional Commodore PETS,- equipped with diskdrives and printers, were provided to the resource room, stu-

dents wanted to do more than utilize the available software.With.an added word procesing capability, it.was decided to pro-duce a magazine containing stories and graphics: Each studentplanted a graphic design (rock bands, spaceships, names, cartooncharacters, etc.) on graph paper that was-transferred to the

computer screen. Working in pairs, students entered. theirdesigns into the computer using a simple editing process. Stu-dents used the word processing program to write their storiesand essays which they edited and printed for the final product.

O

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III. ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES

Centralization and Decentralization

Any judgement regarding the degree of centrali ation ordecentralization of the microcomputer system must e based on anaggregation of several characteristics: the in ial decision toadopt, the decisions to assign and locate the icrocompkke9s,the degree of coordination in using the microcomputers, and theorganization of the software resources.

The decision to adopt microcomputers in the district fol-lowed a ,one-year, pilot project with BOCES/LIRICS system .(an on-line, time-sharing terminal instructional system) at an elemen-tary school. The project, funded under Title IV-C, was known asProject CAL (Computer Accelerated Learning), and was aimed atshowing the feasibility of using computers,for elementary levelinstruction.

The decision to adopt the initial set of microcomputersseems to have been made at three levels within the district, butwith the degree of initiative unclea*tamong the leveld. Amongthe principals, the principal of one elementary school had beenencouraging the use of computers, especially in initiating andsupporting Project CAL. This initial. involvement on theprincipal's part led to recommendations to the Superintendentand the other principals. At the teaching level, Project CALhad been directed by an elementary special education teacher,and she was instrumental in initiating the use of microcompu-ters. (Later, she took on the, role as ,,the district's computetcurriculum specialist.) At the district_ level, the decision toacquire the first set of microcomputers, using Title IV-B funds,had to .have been approved by.the-Superintendent, who had alsoapproved the pilot project..

The first ten microcomputers (Commodore PETS) were each as-signed-to one of the elementary schools in the district., Coor-dination of the system was monitored in terms cf scheduling anduse during the first year by the computer curriculum specialist.Initially, at least one staff member at each school was trainedin computer awareness and the operation of the microcomputers(Bynow, of course, many of the teachers fiave had theopportunity to participate in aeven-week Computer courses oncomputer awareness and programming.) Beyond the initial train-ing.and some intensive consultation where necessary, the coor-dination has been less obtrusive. For instance, there is nosingle collection of software or any software catalogue exceptfor the list of the .district's own developed programs--which,however, have been systematically'duplicated for every

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128

microcomputgr unit. ,Finally, maintenance problems have beenrare, so little coordination has been needed.

This pattern of implementation appears to have been fol-lowed in subsequent purchases of microcomputers in the district.The potential uses of new computers are first identified by thecomputer curriculum specialist for the district, and the appro-priate hardware is determined anda9proved in consultation withthe director of student services. In the past, the two havegotten the Superintendent to apply for funding for the pur-chases, and simply had the microcomputers delivered to the a -propriate schools.

Because decisions to purchase, to loFate the microcompu-ters, and to initiate specific applications all tend to be madeby the computer'curriculum specialist and the director of st2,17.,

dent services, one would regard the system as generally being

centralized.

The centralized characterization is reinforced by the func-tions of these persons with regard to related systems--e.g., theHewlet'tl-Packard instructional system and the microcompiters usedat the central office for administrative functions--as well asothgr educational technology in the schools. All of these usesappear to be orchestrated in a manner that points to centraldecisionmaking and planning;

Howevei, the system does have certain decentralized fea-tures. This is mainly, due to the fact that the district staffis lean, and much control over school activities is at thebuilding level. Thus, active PTAs can and have sponsored thepurchase of new microcompUters, and their use may not necessari-ly be coordinated by the district. Similarly, the specific usesby teachers involve considerable discretion, which the districtattempts to promote rather, than suppress.

Special and Resular'Ecrucation Interaction

Microcomputer use began in the district as the result of aninterest by an elementary special education teacher and a prin-

cipal. Because both persons were intensely interested and oriTented toward the education of students with special needs, theoriginal set of ten microcomputers was 'assigned to the resource

room in each .elementary school. Thus,,the'microcomputer syStemin Commack began as a system mainly oriented toward special

education.I

However, it should also be noted that the resource roomsare not limited to special,educaton studentp. Compensatory ed-ucation students as well as students needing remedial work are

128

also assigned to resource rooms. In this sense, the micro-computer system has never been limited solely to use by specialeducation students.

Microcomputer utiliiation continues to be oriented primar-ily toward special eduation, as does tilt Hewlett-Packard mini-computer system (which again is used by speq21 education aswell as compensatory education and remedial students). At theteaching level, the special educption and regular edu-7ationstaffs tend to be separate, and the special education teachershave-probably dealt more frequently with, microcomputers thanhave regular education teachers.

However, .microcomputers are gradually being used by regulalreducation students and teachers; The director of student ser-vices and the computer curriculum specialist (which is ,.a posi-tion held by the special education teacher originally involvedin microcomputers) 'have look -d at funding sources and potentialapplications from both special and regular education points ofview. Similarly, when an application such as word processingappears to be succesful for special education situations, thesame application is considered for use in regular education.Thus, as the district havacquired and installed newmicrocomputers, it has done so in the interest of both specialand regular education students. In this sense, there-has beenan increased integration of special education wjth regulareducation.

During the past year, for dnstance, sufficient numbers ofmicrocomputers have finally been installed so that one educa-tional goal is to have every student able to have some microcom-puter time during the. school year.

Administrative and Instructional Applications

Each set of microcomputers that has b en acquired has beendesignated for specific uses, not all of hem the same. The.de-signations depend upon the prior. experiences of the computercurriculum specialist, who tests new types of instructional ap-plications each year.. When the applications' appear successfulin her own school, she recommends them for broader utilizationthroughout the district. ,

The set of applications for the initial `purchase of tenCommodore PETs was related to computer-assisted instruction forelementary school stUdents, The microcomputers were assigned tothe resource room of each elementary school,- and were used forindividualized instructiod,- ranging from computer awareness topxogramming. Later, applications that became prominent withfurther purchases included word processing, graphics, computer

:4.

129 r.

awareness for a larger` portion of the student body, and the, ex-pansion of the originalACAI applications at both the elementaryand secondary level. It must be noted, however, that the Commo-dore PET microcomputers are not used.for computer-managed in-struction, which is carried out on the two Hewlett-Packard mini-computers and their accompanying 70 on-line terminals.

When considdkably different applications have emerged, dif-ferent computers have been acquired. Thus, the initiation of aproject teaching LOGO language required the acquisition of aTexas Instruments microcomputer. Where administrative applica-tions nave emerged, this same pattern has been followed, andthus the instructional and administrative applications exist ondifferent microcomputer system . (For the administrative appli-cations, two Commodore 8032s we e purchased for use at the cen-tral office, for maintaining spe ial education and gifted/tal-ented student enrollment projections, inventories, mailinglists, general word processing, budget development, and person-nel records.)

The district made a deliberate decision to separate the in-

structional and administrative systems. Several reasons were-given by the director of student services for such a clear de-marcation, including the awareness that:

in a mixed system, administrative functions graduallydisplace instructional ones;

a mixed system creates security problems because studentsmay try to gain access to the administrative data;

no single type of hardware necessarily serves both theinstructional and administrative applications in the mostefficient manner.

Other than the purchase of the ComModore 8032 mic!.ocompu-ters, all resources have been allocated toward the acqaisitionof microcomputers for instructional purposes. There are noadministrative applications at the school-building level. Thusall the microcomputers in our case study have been dedicated toinstructional uses only.

Training

.Initially, when the first. set of ten microcomputers was ,

introduced into the elementary schOols, one resource. staff mem-ber -wa-str-a-ined. in. .each._ school.- The computer curriculum spe-cialist assigned the microcomputers to each site, along, with

130

copies of the district's software programs, and provided someintroductory. orientation and training in computer operations.The progress of each resource room's microcomputer use was thenmonitored in an informal manner to insure continued support andsmooth implementation.

With the introduction of microcomputers' into the secondaryschool resource rooms and subsequent exvnsion into the elemen-tary schools, the need for staff training increased,substan-tially. As a result, the first inservice course on computerawareness was offered in the spring of 1980. The coursecovered: 1) basic knowledge and operation of the computer,2) integration of computer use into the curriculum, and 3) in-troductory programming skills to enable teachers to modify orcreates instructional programs.

Later, additional courses were developed and provided tointerested staff in BASIC programming, advanced BASIC program-ming, word processing, and computer graphics. The courses areusually taught'by the computer curriculum specialist, severalother teachers in the district, and outside computer experts.All of the courses are offered on a regular basis throughout ,1

eacn academic year and consist ot seven sessions for a total of14 hours. Approximately 250 teachers, teacher assistants, andparent volunteers have completed one or, more of the courses.

In addltiort, a workshop on computer awareness was given inSeptember 1 82, to the elementary and secondary principals toincrease their knowledgd and active participation in theirschools' computer-programs. Principals also have been encour-aged to attend the district's inservice courses. In the springof 1982, four workshops on different microcomputer applicationsin the schools were conducted for the district's'administratorsto develop.their awareness and support.

The COmmack School District also offers adult educationclasses in programming on microcomputers. Many parents who actas computer assistants in the resource rooms have taken theclasses. Other parent volunteers have attended the afternodnworkshops on computer awareness at each school as part of theassistance program.

Emerging Roles

The only new role that has been formally created for thedistrict is one of computer curriculum specialist, whichoccurred in the fall of 197. The position is'held by the ele-mentary special, education to chef who initiated the use ofmicrocomputers in Commack. Working out of a computer lab in oneof the elementary schools, she coordinates the district-wide

computer program. Under the guidance of the director of studentservices, she is responsible for all the computer programs inthe district and has been instrumental in introducing new compu-ter projects and applications in the schools.

As computer curriculum specialist, she is involved withother district administrators in determining computer purchases,allocations, and possible applications. She coordinates theactual installation of new microcomputers and provides intro-ductory training to.staff members. For new applications, thecomputer curriculum specialist usually monitors the implementa-tion process on an informal basis for the first year.

In this position, she has organized a project to review andevaluate software and has been instrumental in the deyelopmentof new educational software programs in Commack. In addition,she was involved in the creation of a regional K-12 Computer

-Committee to develop a comprehensive computer education,curri-culum and implementation plan. /

40

Apart from the computer curriculum specialist, there are.computer assistant roles that have emerged to support the com-pwter programs., Each resource room is staffed with assistantstd work with students individually at the microcomputers. Manyparent volunteers have been trained to serve in this capacity inthe resource rooms. High school computer science students havebeen bussed to the elementary schools to act as computerassistants and even as prograinming instructors forsthe gifted

students. An internship position has been created for a

JP

gradypte student to assist An several schools in teaching programEing to gifted /talented students.

HOPKINS SCHOOL DISTRICT NUMBER 270Hopkins, Minnesota

Case Study Report

Susan A. Brummel(SRA Tecnologies, Inc.)

Karl D. White(SRA Technologies,' Inc.)

I. SUMMARY. NARRATIVE AND CHRONOLOGYThe School District

O

135Overview of Microcomputers Studied 136Chronology 137

II. FEATURES OF THE MICROCOMPUTER SYSTEMIntroduction 141Management of the Microcomputers 142Illustrative Applications 142

Special Education Database Management 142Introductory Computer Programming/LOGO 143CAI in a Special Education Resource Room 143

III. ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUESCentralization and Decentralization 145Special and Regular Education Interaction 145Administrative and Instructional Applications 146Training 147Emerging Roles 148

The authors are grateful to Arthur. Bruning, Superintendent,for granting permission for the Hopkins School District toparticipate in this study. We would like to thankBarbaraWhiting,- Lead Teacher and ASSIST Director for arranging.thevisit and assisting the research team on,site. We alsoappreciate the many staff people and teachers who'met with usand gave generouily of their time to make our effortssuccessful.

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I. SUMMARY NARRATIVE AND CHRONOLOGY

The School District

Hopkins Sc of 'District Number 270 is located in Hopkins,Minnesota, ap r xiMately 20 miles west of the metropolitan areaof Minnea olis. The school district covers about 30 squaremiles. here are a wide variety of businesses includingmerchan ising, tourism, and light industry in this suburbanarea: . veral high technology corporations such as Control DataCorporation and Honeywell are located` in Hopkins.

The school district serves a residential population of52,825 from seven municipalities, with a student population6,927 (about 97 percent white) during the 1982-1983 academidyear. There are six elementary schools, two junior highschools, and one high school. -The district offices are locatedin a former high school complex, which\was closed in 1982 due toconsolidation, but is now utilized bly the city as a communitycenter. b

r

Educational services for the 800 special education studentsin the district are provided by the special services department.

\

di

The department offers a full range of special educationservices, including programs for educabl men ally retarded,emotionally disturbed, multiply handica ped, students withspeech and language problems, and stu nts with "speciallearning and behavior problems." Vocatiohal/technicar'progiamsare offered to special education students through a teaming'arrangement with an adjacent school district. The specialservices department also provides comprehensive child studyservices to the community. The child study team in Hopkinsconsists of the classroom teacher, the building principal, a,counselor, a psychologist, a speech and language pathologist, aresource teacher, and other optional building staff members.

The director of special services is responsible for theadministration of the special education program. The specialeducation staff consists of a supervisor of special education,special education building chairpersons at the secondaryschools, a department lead teacher for the elementary schools,and 31 special education teachers. The special education staffis assisted by 15 counselors, 14 social workers, 6 psycholo-gists, 8 speech and language pathologists, and a variety ofother staff, including a preschool screening specialist, an,occupational therapist, and an adaptive physical education.teacher.

4 Computers shave been used in educational programs in Hopkinssince the early 1960's. Initial instructional applications

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t

utilized a district mainfraine,computer. With the advent ofmicrocomputers in the late seventies, the district planned andimplemented district -wide use of microcomputers for -instructional and some administrative applications.

Overview of the Microcomputers Studied

There are 120 microcomputers in use in the district. Nineof these units were purchas'ed with special education funds, butdistrict policy is that all equipment be utilized by the entirepopulation and the equipment is not departmentalized. Nineunits are in administrative offices, 47 are in classrooms, and

64 are in media centers. Eighteen units are at the districtcentral complex, 38 are in the high school, 30 are in the juniorhigh schools, and 34 are in the elementary schools. Across thedistrict, the microcomputers are used for a wide variety of

purposes, including:

computer-assisted instruction (CAI)- including drill-and-practice, simulations, tutorials, and problemsolving;

computer literacy and computer programming;

ousiness. education course, (word processing,accounting, keyboarding, etc.);

instructional management;

administrative applications (teacher gradebook,attendance, class scheduling);

music composition with electronic keyboards in U,elementary music classes; and

library/media operations.

Much of the software for the microcomputers is producedlocally. Additional software is acquired from the MinnesotaEducational Computer Consortium (MECC), the Total InforffiationEducational Systems (TIES), and commercial vendors.

Since 1967, Hopkins has worked with se other schooldistricts to provide data processing services though TIES. As

microcomputers h 4ve become available in member districts, TIEShas reorganized its services to accommodate the decreasingmainframe needs and the increasing needs for microcomputersupport.

13S

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The school district has also'developed a proposal for the1983-1984 school year to establish "The School of TommorrowToday." The plan calls for a demonstration learning cen-ter/classroom in an elementary,schobl. The purpose of thiscenter would be to establish a learning environment, incerpora-:ting the latest technological advances in curriculum programs,instructional methods, and teacher-student interaction skills.

Chronology

Computers were used in the educational program since theearly 1960's. However, microcomputers were not introduced until1978\. In that year, the Hopkins evaldation center purchased ,aTRS-80 microcomputer. In November 1978, a technology task forcefor the district was established. The committee members wereselected because of their interest in the field, and torepresent a variety of district programs, although not all

curriculm areas or all district school buildings were .initially,represented.

The first meeting of the task force was held with similarcommittees from two neighboring school districts. At thismeeting, demonstrations were given on several tIrpe4 of computerhardware. Three microcomputers--Radio Shack TRS-80, Apple II,and Commodore PET--were available for examination.

At the next meeting of the Hopkins task force, the membersdeveloped a list of instructional and management needs. A thirdtask force mee ing provided the opportunity for members to heara report on th,t implemenation of a Commodore PET microcomputerin another school district. The committee developed a positionpaper that ultimately made the following recommendations:

that the district curriculum council be responsiblefor final decisions involving the implementation of

microcomputers and other technologies;

that a person be made available at the district levelto assist building personnel in implementation andutilization; and

that a person be appointed in each school building tobe responsible for the implementation, maintenance,and development of technology.

Other recommendations concerned the. selection anddistribution of microcomputers and related equipment, as well.asa recommendation that the district continue to be involved inexisting consortiums (TIES, MECCL to share computer programs and

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materials:

The task force requested and obtained district money topurchase 17' Apple II microcomputers in 1979. Since that time,additional microcomputers have been purchased with buildingfunds,-Title IV-B, Special Projects funds, and money raised bythe parent teacher organizations. The first 17 microcomputerswere placed in a building lounge for the first half of theschool year and, in December 1979, distributed to other schools.

In subsequent years microcomputer use has expandedthroughout the district. In 1980-1981, 34 Apples were added; in1981-1982, 17 more; and in 1982-1983, 25 Apples, plus 20additional printers. Currently there are 117 Apple microcom-puters, 3 Texas Instruments microcomputers, and a wide varietyof peripherals in the district. Most microcomputers are`equipped with disk drives and color monitors. Of these, 103units are used mostly for instructional applications; 17 foradministrative.

A wide variety of training opportunities have 'accompaniedthe growth of microcomputers in Hopkins. Inservice courseofferings have included: "Advanced Apple II Computer Program-ming," "Beginning BASIC for the Apple II," "CoMputer IndependentStudy," "Intermediate BASIC Computing," and "Use of the Computerwith Cooperative Learning."

Hopkins has been the site of several innovative projectsad-vancing---the--use--o-f-microcomputer s. --CAM 1ComprehensiveAchievement Monitoring)-an instructional management tool tomonitor student progress, has been used since the'early 1970'sand was initially based on- a mainframe computer. In'1978 thedistrict made CAM available for.microcomputers.

Project ASSIST4---tAiitomated Special Services and StudentTrackin implemented in 1981, with a Title IV-C grant.T project uses microcomputers to manage the data essential tovarious specialieducation reports and records. It also keepstrack of special services personnel and budget information.

In the spring of 1982, Hopkins was selected as a NationalDiffusion Network Lighthouse Project. This project allows-thestaff to share with other districts, and Was been refunded for

the 1983-1984 academic year.

The major events in the history of microcomputer implemen-tprion in the Hopkins School District are presented in Table 1.

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Table 1: Chronoh ogy of Implementation

DateMonth/Year Event

Hopkins SchoolDistrictNumber 270

1978 -1979 Academi Year

Fall 1978 -

Nov. 1978

Fall 1978

Dec. 1978

1979-1980 Academic ear

Sept. 1979

Dec. 1979

Dec. 1979

Summer 1980

1980-1981 Academic Year

Fall 1980t.. -

Evaluation Center purchased oneTRS-80 microcomputer.

Technology task force establishedto recommend district guidelinesregarding technology implementa-tion. Orientation for planninggroup provided.

District makes CAM available formicrocomputers.

District-sponsored inservicetraining on calculators'and micro-computers.

Purchased 17 Apple II microcom-puters with district funds.

17 microcomputers distributed toclassrooms and media centers inthe schools.

District initiates series of in-service training courses on BASICprogramming.

Three positions established:data processing and disseminationspecialist, programmer analystconsultant, and instructionalcomputer consultant.,

Building purchases totaling 34111 Apple II microcomputers.

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March 1981 Inservice training on "cooperativelearning" with microcomputers.

1981 -1982 Academic Year

Fall 1981 Building purchases totaling 17Apple II microcomputers.

,Spring 1982

Summer 1982 ,

1982-1983 Academic Year

Fall 1982

Jan. 1983

District implements ProjectASSIST, initially funded throughTitle IV-C.

Hopkins School District selectedas National Diffusi'on NetwerkLighthouse Project.

Part-time position for CAM micro-computer implementation associateestablished.

Building purchases totaling 25Apple II-Plus units as well as20 additional printers.

Technology task force reconvenedto review district goals regarding

implementation.mplementation.

A

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Introduction

There are currently 117 Apple II m crocomputers and threeTexas Instruments units in the Hopkins School District. Eightypercent of the microcomputers have co or monitors, 20 percent ofthe microcomputers have dual disk drives, and 20 percent haveprinters. Additional hardware in the district includes anelectronic keyboard/for music compOsition, a voice synthesizer,and a graphics tab/et.

There are 34' Apple microcomputers distributed ,to sixelementary schools. The microcomputers are in.thedia centers andcan be checked/out to individual classrooms. The mediaspecialist at/each school is responsible for the equipment andfor cataloging the software. The child study secretaries use-the microcomputers for ASSIST applications. Three.imicrocomputers are located in elementary school adMinistrativeoffices.

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II. FEATURES OF THE MICROCOMPUTERS

There are 15 Apple II' microcomputers at each of the twojunioerhigh schoolsl-placed in classrooms and in the mediacenters. Most instructional applications use the MECC software.Some students write courseware at teachers' requests as part oftheir independent study projects.

At the high school, nine Apple II microcomputers are usedfor upper level math and programming; seven in businesseducation for keyboarding, accounting, and bookkeeping; severalin the media center and science classrooms; and two units in theoffice for budget and accounting work. Daily announcements areassembled on a microcomputer in the office and are made avail-able to students on monitors located throughodt the building.

The microcomputers in media centers and classrooms are usedalmost constantly during the school day, including the lunchperiods. The units in the administrative offices acre reservedfor administrative use and generally not available to students.The microcomputers are available for teachers, parents, andadministrators to check out during weekends, holidays., andsummer vacation.

There are 17 microcomputers at the,district bdi,lding. Nineof the microcomputers are divided atong.the following. offices:business, special services,'food services, community services,.building and grounds, and,district media center,: They are usedfor one or more of the folloWing applications: bddget, account-ing, food inventory, meal planning, Project ASSIST,\ word

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processing, energy audit, and media. inventory. Eight of themicrocomputers in the evaluation center are used for dev opinginstructional and administrative software. (The Softwareproduced .at the evaluation center has been purchased by morethan 100 school districts around the country). Themicrocomputers are also used for instructional support and

training.

Management of the Microcomputers

Media specialists within each school are responsible forthe implementation and management of the microcomputers. Thedistrict's instructional computer consultant provides trainingto media specialists, teachers, and parents. He assists themedia specialists in maintenance and use of computers. He alsocoordinates compiliation of appropriate software.

_ In the spring of 1983, the evaluation center beganreceiving all purchase requests (hardware and software) by the

schools. New acquisitions are rceived at the evaluation centerfor inventory and inspection and then sent to the school thathad purchased the equipment. Authority for the allocation ofmicrocomputers within schools, and for the nature and extent ofapplications in schools, is delegated to the buildingprincipals.

Illustrative Applications

To provide n idea of how the microcomputers are being usedin-the Hopkins\ s ools, three illustrative applications aredescribed below\.

Special Education Database. Management-- Project ASSIST. Thisadministratice application makes it possible to.review senioritydates, to publish staff directories by department or building,and to review salary and funding sources. Other componentscontain student demographic data and educational records.

The primary users of this application are the child study-secretaries in each building, and the special services secretary

\zt the district office, the director of special services,. andhe coordinator of special education. This project involve 11

Apple II microcomputers on a. part-time basis, which are locatedin media centers or offices of each school. Backup disks foreach file and a 132-column printer for rep t generation arealso used. Software for Project ASSIST incl des threelocally-developed programs and a commercial roducti .D.B. MasterData Base Management Software.

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Project ASSIST has enhanCed the district's ability tomaintain all necessary district, state and federal information.All participants in the project have expressed satisfaction withits implementation and outcome. In particular, the director ofspecial services and the coordinator of special educationreported that its major impact has been in reducing the amountof time now required for special education anministrative tasks.

Introductory Computer Programming /LOGO. The instructionalcomputer consultant from the evaluation center and thecooperative learning coordinator are team-teaching with a fifthgrade teacher. Her students are learning LOGO in the context ofa "cooperative learning model."

The teacher introduces the lesson and uses a student tohelp demonstrate by playing "turtle." The other students givethe turtle / student the correct commands that hel,p him or herwalk in a square. The commands are then translat into thespecial (but similar) language commands that are acceptable inLOGO graphics.

After s demonstration, they class is divided into workgroups of fo r students each, who then implement this lesson onthe microcom ters. Specific tasks are assigned to thechildren. Each student has a responsibility to help the groupwork effectively and productively. Roles that are delegatedinclude chairperson, recorder, and "encourager." Each groupproduces esquare (or other figure) using the "turtle commands."After each group has completed the task, the students return totheir assigned workspaces and another group uses themicrocomputer. Each group provides feedback to; individual groupmembers as to how well they assumed their assigned roles.

Computer-Assisted Instruction in a Special'EducationResource-Room. Two teachers in an elementary resource roomreceived a microcomputer during 1980-81, for use withapproximately 30 special education students. Thelnicrocomputeris an Apple II with a disk drive and printer, and is usedprimarily for math and language arts instruc on. There isMilliken m4th.land language arts, MECC, and on MifflinWordwise sOftT:are available in the room, nd additional softwareavailable from the media center.

The teachers have decided that students should use thecomputer "as needed" and have worked out a system of studentnegotiatiop for scheduling 'use. The teachers believe 'that thenegotiation technique encourages socialization in the classroom.Typically, if one student is working on the microcomputer, astudent needing the unit must negotiate for a stopping time withthe student already using the unit. The second student mustthen sign up for the amount of time needed to complete his/her

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assignment:

.Informal schedules are kept for lunch hour use of the

microcomputer. Students are also assigned a day on which theycan bring a friend in during lunch hour. This "reversemainstreaming" technique ofteh brings regularirducation.students.into 'the special education classroom.

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III. ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES

Centralization and Decentralization

,The microcomputers in the. Hopkins School District arecharacterized by both centralized' and decentralized featureS.Purchasing decisions for both software and hardware are made atthe building level. However, the district's evaluation centerhas emerged as a "regulatory agency;" as it must approve allpurchases. This provides quality Control by the expertsemployed there and also serves to monitor the technologicaldevelopments inthe district.

Administrative applications, including CAM, MMS, andProject ASSIST, are coordinated at the district level andreports are pooled into a central data base for reporting. -

Nevertheless, even though administrative applications are,coordinated at the district office, the degree of implementationat each school remains a building decision. The same philosophyprevails with instructional applications.

. A district- organized technology task force was formed in1979 to plan and coordinate the initial purchase'of 17 micro-computers. In January, 1983, the task force was reconvened tocheck progress in the district and to see if the original

all)

guidelines were still applicable. A new position paper is nowbeing prepared to serve.as a blue-print for fu ure developments.As for software, curriculum groups at the b ing level meetand discuss software needs. These groups consider suggestionsfrom the evaluatiOn center staff, preview materials, and makethe final purchase decisions, with approval by the principal.

I

The district also uses the services of TIES for mainframecomputer-supported budget and accounting applications. There

f` has recently been a reorganization of the TIES services-toincorporate microcomputer technology and, therefore, conflictbetween mainframe and thicrocomputer users has been avoided.

/Special and Regular Education

The introduction of microcomputers has not had any effecton the working relationships between special and regulareducation teachers beyond what any other building-wide projectmight entail. Good working relationships are reported andspecial education teachers typically spend as much 'as one periodper day in regular education classrooms where they team-teachand also assist mainstreamed students.

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146

The media specialist in each school has been responsibleimplementing and coordinating the local microcomputers.ial education teachers' involvement has not differed fromof regular education teachers. Each classroom has

scheduled times for using the microcomputers, whether theclassrooms are special or regulai education.

Several special education classrooms, however, have their

own microcomputers. Arrangements can be made for regulareducation students-to schedule use, if this is important to anindividual stuOsa-tAz program. The term "reverse mainstreaming"was used on several occasions to explain the opportunity that aspecial education student has to invite a'regular edOcation.friend to use the special education computer on a specified day

during the lunch hour.

One special education teacher, who is the cooperativelearning coordinator, demonstrates "cooperative learning models"to elementary teachers in several schools, in a teamingarrangement with the district instructional computer consultant.Together, they present inservice training and 'Make Aassroompresentation8. They instruct teachersin the use of ehe micro-computer for problem-solving activities in which children learnhow to work cooperatively in groups.

The project is sponsored by the federal government ra(SEP/DE), and Hopkins in one of t *ree district regional centers

in Minnesota. One regular education teacher commented that the

special education department provided "new blood" and aninnovative spirit to the district.

Administrative and Instructional Applications

Presently, there are 103 microcomputers primarily used forinstructional purposes and17 primarily for administrative

purposes. An example of the shared use of microcomputers--between administrative and instructional applications--occurs inProject ASSIST. For some schools, the district evaluationcenter only provided double disk drives for microcomputersalready allocated to the schools' media centers. (Two diskdrives are required for Project ASSIST's administrative

applications.) In these buildings, the child study secretariesare scheduled to use the available units part of the day for the

Project ASSIST application; during other periods of the day theequipment remains available for:instructional appli ations. In

each case, the scheduling and extent of administrat ve uses aredetermined by the building principals.

1. 145

commercial software packages, and the production of catalogswhich are available to staff members with up-to-date informationon materials for classroom use.

Training

There have been 28 district-wide inservice trainingprograms on, nine different computer topics. In addition, theinstructional computer consultant has conducted building-leveltraining and classroom demonstrations, together with thecooperative learning model teacher. Adult education classeshave also been available for parents and their children. Summerschool classes also provide microcomputer experiences forstudents.

The district provided inservice training to members of thefirst technology task force- -both prior to and during the timethey served on this committee which led to the first districtpurchases of microcomputers in1979. All staff have been giventhe opportunity to receive training. The first microcomputersin the district were initially placed in teachers' lounges forhalf a year. Teachers participating in any of the districttraining can receive either a stipend or one "Hopkins BoardCredit" which is.added to their salary schedule.

The child study secretaries working with Project ASSISTmeet monthly for training and "trouble-shooting" sessions. Theyhave also received individual instruction and assistance inentering child data during the initial implementation of the

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148

application. There were no indications that microcomputers werebeing underused or staff were experiencing difficulties thatcould be attributed to lack of training opportunities.

Emerging Roles

The me is specialists in each school are responsible for

implementing the microcomputers. In at least one elementaryscho01, the media specialist is requesting a computer lab aidebecause the program has grown beyond what she and her presentstaff can handle without sacrificing other learning programs.The computer lab aide would be a full-time position withresponsibilities for coordinating daily activities in the lab.

This would include acquisition and maintenance of both hardware

.and software.

Presently, the district has three full-time and onepart-time, district-level computer support positions. Threepositions were established in the summer of 1980:

1. Data processing and dissemination specialist- -responsibilities include implementatiok and oper-ation of the TIES management informatidk and in-struction systems, as well as coordination anddevelopment of management applications using themicrocomputers.

2. Programmer analyst consultantresponsibilities '

include development of microcomputer software forboth instructional and management applications.

Instructional computer consultant--responsibilitiesinclude providing inservice training sessions forteachers, media specialists, and parents, assistingmedia specialists in the maintenance and use ofthe microcomputers, coordinating compilations of ap-propriate software; and with the programmer, identi-fying software needs. He also assists in the reviewand revision of the district's computer curriculum.

The fourth l'ilosit'on, was established in the summer of 1982:

4. CAM mic ocomputer implementation associate--this is a

part-time position. District responsibilities includecoordination of junior high level CAM use and testscore processing; assistance in classroom implementa-tion of microcomputers, particularly at the juniorhigh level4 Additional assignments included trainingand the development of materials.

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MINUTEMAN REGIONAL VOCATIONAL TECHNICAL SCHOOL DISTRICTLexington, Massachusetts

Case Study Report

J. Lynne White(COSMOS Corporation)

Robert K. Yin(COSMOS Corporation)

I. SUMMARY NARRATIVE AND-CHRONOLOGYThe School Diitrict 151Overview of Microcomputers Studied 152Chronology 153 ,

II. FEATURES OF THE MICROCOMPUTERSIntroduction 157Management of the Microcomputers 158Illustrative Applications 158

Individualized Instruction- Special Educa-tion 159Computer-Assisted-Instruction in Science 159Record Keeping Systein (C.M I ) 1610

III. ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUESCentralization and Decentralization 161Special and Regalar Education-Interaction 162Administrative and Instructional Applications 163Training 163Emerging Roles 164

The authors are grateful to Dr. Ron Fitzgerald, Super-intendent, for granting permission :for the Minuteman RegionalVocational Technical School District to participate in thestudy. We would like to thank Earle Hancock, MicrocomputerMaster Teacher, for arranging the visit and assisting theresearch team on site. We also ,appreciate the many staff peopleand teachers who met with us and gave generously of their timeto make our efforts successful.

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I. SUMMARY NARRATIVE AND CHRONOLOGY

The School District

Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical School District isa one-building (secondary school) district, established in 1975by agreement of 16 neighboring towns. Th, school is located on65 acres of woods and fields in Lexington and Lincoln, ten mileswest-of Boston. Admission to the school is open to any studentwithin its member towns and serves as an option to the general,local high schools. \

N

Currently, 1252 students attend grades 9-12, earning a highschool diploma and a technical certificate in one of 25 occupa-tional areas. The school program operates on a "week about"schedule, in which one full week is spent in academic subjectsand the following week in a lab or shop. Thus, academic andvocational weeks are alternated throughout the school year.

Special education services are provided to 450 of thesestudents. Such students are admitted to the school if they pos-sess pre-vocational academic skills and can function in voca-tional training. The special education students are assigned toa resource teacher for edu ional support and guidance.

The speCial educ- ion p gram has a director of specialeducation services w 0 reports directly to the Superintendent.Within the special educatipn division are ten resource teachers,a school psychologist, a social worker, a speech therapist, anoccupationaltherapist, and a job placeinent counselor.

The vocational-technical programs are organized into nineclusters: building trades, commercial services, electronics,graphics, health services, metal fabrication, power mechanics,distributive education/child care, and technology. Each clusterrepresents several departments focusing on a particular trade orskill area, with required courses for each grade level. Stu-dents gain practical experience in their vocational area throughthe shops and services operated by the school for the public,such as a restaurant, bakery, beauty salon, service station,child care center, and landscaping service. The academic areascovered are English, mathematics, science, social studies, busi-ness, language, physical education, and a few electives.

In many of the academic areas as well as the vocational-technical shops, microcomputers and on-line terminals can be

(Seen in use by teachers and studWs. Minuteman has a to al of27 microcomputers, of which 22 are'Apple II-Plus units an 5 arezepith_Heatbkit_mQdelz. _l_a__addition-,the--schoo-1has---erree Digt--

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tal POP-11 minicomputers with term.nals for both administrative'and instructional functions.

Overview of Microcomputers Studied

Of Minuteman's-22 Apple* -1:-Plus microcomputers, 15 arelocated in offices or individual ci,sstooms and 7 are in amicrocomputer center in the library. The microcomputers areused for a wide variety of purposes, mostly instructional ratherthan-administrative, with over 100 pieces of software integratedinto the curriculum. Examples of microcomputer use, are:

. _

In science, microcomputer programS are used fortutorial instruction in chemistry, biology, andphysics. Students in basic science receive read-ing and spelling instruction related to theircoursework on the microcomputer.

Electronics students learn to write BASIC andPascal programs on the microcomputer, and alsoreceive CAI in math. Some students arelearning to use Data Base Management software,while others create games using graphics.

The microcomputer center provides basic skillinstruction to any student in areas such as ath,spelling, grammar, reading, and social studies.The microcomputers are also used to train allfreshman students in computer use and some seniorstudents in basic programming.

The culinary arts department uses a microcomputerto operate a daily, shop-inventory-control pro-gram for the student-run bakery.

A joint vocatiohal shops project, "Super Insula-ted House" is underwayr combining the studentexpertise of the instrumentation department in

using the microcomputers for environmental moni-toring and control and the skills of the build-ing trades department for. construction.

.In addition, the school's- staff developedmicrocomputer-based lessons. in spelling, vocabulary, literature,and history, to assist students in their academic courses.

Administrative uses of the microcomputer include:

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capital inventory control for each department;

staff attendance records;

student test data records; and

some word processing.

-Finally, the Superintendent uses his microcomputer forinancial planning and simulations for contract negotiations.le microcomputer also provides data and graphics for the Super-Itendent's work with public hearings and finance committees.

Ironology,

It was the Superintendent who first bkought the ideaicrocomputer use into the school in the beginning of 1980. Heiewed the new technolqgy.as an invaluable teaching tool thatsuccessfully combined. patience with interactive learning." Thenterest of other teachers was solicited through a note postedy the Superintendent. Within several weeks, a committee oftaff members was formed to investigate the use of microcompu-ers at other schools and to make recommendations for purchasingardware.

By the late fall of 1980, nine Apple II-plus microcomputersnd software had been purchased, primarily with OccupationalIucation Entitlement funds (PA. 94-482), and 60 staff memb-ersompleted inservice training on microcomputer operations. Theos,ition of microcomputer master teacher was created by theuperintendent to act as a resource to the new users. In addi-ion, several teachers were given the opportunity to developheir own programs over the summer.

The first microcomputers were allocated to the staff mem-ers who had shown the moat interest and were likely to haveuccess with. implementation. However, the innovation was notandated by the Superintendent, nor were any .departments pres-ured to adopt.microcomputers. In distributing the first units,he Superintendent also favored both decentralized and central-zed approaches. He wanted students to experlence microcompu-ers in the context of their vocational or technical area andof ju_.t in a center or, in a reading or math department. As aexult, the units in the microcomputer center are considered theentralized part of the microcomputer system, and the units inhe individual shops and classrooms represent the decentralizedart.

154

In September of 1981, the Superintendent, in consuwith the microcomputer master teacher, purchased nine aApple II-Plus microcomputers. The microcomputer centerto accommodate seven units, and a teacher was assignedtion of microcomputer specialist to manage the center'sties. The school's software collection, purchased witsfunds, was indexed and catalogued for a printed*"MicrocProgram guide." Additional inservice training was pro%the microcomputer Master teacher, to meet the growing i

and needs of the staff.

Decisions on the distribution of the new units agamade on the basis of a teacher demonstrating an abilitythe machine for either instructional or administrativeA written plan for use is considered inadequate; the acdemonstration of need consists of running programs in I

source center, writing new software, or exhibiting newtions for others. Insufficient use of a unit is grounchaving a microcomputer removed, which has occurred oncepast. The Superintendent's attitude and involvement ccto be one of "I will provide the means to support the 1

microcomputers, %if you pro e how to make use of them."

The major events in he implementation of microcorMinuteman Regional Vocational Technical School are pre!Table 1.

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Table 1: Chronology of Implementation 5

DateMonth-Year Event

MinutemanSchoolDistrict

1979;-1980 Academic Year

Dec. 1979

Jan. 1980

June 1980

1980-1981 Academic Year

Sept. 1980

Oct. 1980

Nov. 1980

April 1981

June 1981

.Superintendent saw microcomputerson a visit to California.

Committee of interested persons.formed to recommend hardware.

Purchased one TRS-80 and oneApp14 II-Plus, and software.

Microcomputer duties allocatedto one teacher.

First teacher training offered(15 hours).

Purchased nine Apple II-Plusand two printers; designedand built work stations.

Purchased one Apple II-Plus.

Five teachers paid over summerto develop software programs.

e--

1981-1982 Academic Year

Sept. 1981 half time pOsition of micro-computer master teacher created.

Sept. 1981

Sept. 1981

Purchased nine Apple II-Plus unitsand ptinters'.

Set up 44crocomputer center inI.R.C. with four Apples andmicrocomputer specialist.

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Nov. 1981

1982-1983 Academic Year

Sept. 1982

156

Printed "Microcomputer Guide.".

Purchased one Apple II-Plusand upgraded all microcomputersto 64K.

Sept: 1982 Formalized computer orientationprogram for all freshmen.

Sept. 1982 Purchased Corvus hard disk drive.

N . 1982

Nov. 1982

Purchased Cavri system and twovideo cassettes.

Formed micro/mini computer co-ordination committee.

II. FEATURES OF THE MICROCOMPUTERS

Introduction

Presently, there are 22 Apple II-Plus microcomputers in theschool. Most of the units have color monitors, and several havedouble disk drives. There are eight dot matrix printers an oneprinter of letter quality. A few of the microcomputers areequipped with either a graphic drawing tablet, a light pen, orpaddles for special applications.

The school has recently acquired a Corvus hard disk drivefor a future software project, as well as a Cavri system inter--active, video-cassette display.

Five vocational al-eas --culinary arts, machine shop, carpen-try, distributive education, and instrumentation--each have amicrocomputer located in their work space. The English depart-ment has one unit placed in a small workroom. In the sciencedepartment, one microcomputer is moved around to differentclassrooms. There is*one microcomputer in the developmentalmath lab. The guidance office has one unit, and the Superinten-dent has a unit in'his office.* The microcomputer office, whichalso functions as a resource room, has three of the microcompu-ter units and one printer. Seven of the units and two printersare in the microcomputer center, which is a section of thelibrary/media center, and to which teachers can send their stu-dents for microcomputer use during class time.

Regarding the level of use, only estimates eici It isbelieved that 80 of the 130 vocational and academi teachers usethe microcomputers on a regular basis. Of the ten resourceteachers' (special education), six are said to use the microcom-puters with their students in the microcomputer o fice or cen--ter. Among district personnel, the Superintendent is the onlyuser, and none of the school administrators use microcomputersin their work.

According to the microcomputer master teacher, approxi-mately half of the students (about 600) use the microcomputerson a regular basis in connection with Oheir shop skills oracademic learning. It is estimated thst at least 50 percent(300) of these users are special education- students. Further-,more, all freshmen students are given introductory training incomputer literacy.

In terms of use, the microcoMputer center, for example,averages 70 or more students per day. With its seven microcom-puters, the center serves students from all the resource rooms

4

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in addition to the overflow from several departments, including:math, carpentry, English, and eleCtronics. The microcomputerspecialist in charge says that it is rare to have a free micro-computer in the center during any period in a given day. Themicrocomputer in the developmental math lab is used by 140 spe-vial education students for 40 minutes once a week. Eachdepartment with a microcomputer has a similar schedule thatsuggests constant use.

Management of the Microcomputers

The Superintendent makes all final decisions about micro=computer purchases and budgets, with approval from the schoolboard. These purchasing decisions ,are made in conjunction withthe microcomputer master teacher, who prepares the appropriateestimates based on hi.s e erience with the district's needs.This master teacher is par of the special education staff; andthus has no'formal organiz tional relationship to the vocatiOna:

education staff. Howeve , the master teacher acts in an infor-mal manner to assure that all of the district's needs are satisfied.

Neventheless, the lack of formal coordination means thatother hardware decisions can be made independently of the microcomputer master teacher. This occurred recently when the voca-tional education staff acquired five Heathkit microcomputers fo:its electronics "cluster," without consulting the master teach-er, but with the Superintendent's final approval. In summary,the master teacher reviews most purchases and coordinates theuse of the Apple microcomputers, but the other microcomputersfall outside of his responsibilities.

Microcomputer software decisions are made in a different

manner. The software purchases are made from existing libraryand departmental budgets for materials. Individual teachers masuggest software to be purchased, and these suggestions may thebe reviewed by the resource center teacher, by the variousdepartments, or by the microcomputer master teacher before adecisionis made. to purchase.

Maintenance decisions are made by the Superintendent andthe microcomputer master teacher. In mid 1982-1983, the main-tenance contract was discontinued (due to high cost!), and themaster teacher now personally performs any necessary mainten-ance.

Illustrative Applications

To provide an idea of how the microcomputers are being use

156

in Minuteman, three illustrative applications are describedbelow.

Individualized Instruction--Special Education. In thisapplication, three students work at a time in the microcomputeroffice, which also serves as a resource room for special educa-tion students.

Along two sides of the small room are threewith disk drives and one printer. A metal file cabinet containsa selection of software. One student may work on a math programof word problems that uses a game-like format. The emphasis ison whole-number operations as well as reading skills. Theteacher indicates that the program is typical of most of themath drill-and-practice software used in building basic skills.Another student may have recently become interested in microcom-puters and is spending his time learning the basic elements ofprogramming. These students are part of a program for specialeducation students that provides individullized instruction onmicrocomputers, with an additional emphasis on computerliteracy.. Students are selected for the program based on theirresource teachers' recommendation and the learning objectivescontained in their Individual Education Plans (IEPs). Theprogram is taught by the microcomputer master teacher who alsoacts as a resource teacher for special education students.

The microcomputer master teacher says that at. the beginningof his course none of the students could even operate a micro-computer. After he works with each of the 20 to 30 students forapproximately 40 minutes (for eight weeks), the students can use"canned" software independently, and most of them can writesimple programs. In accordance with the students IEP's, theyvise drill-and7practice programs, strategic games, and simula-tions to help develop academic skills, visual perception, anddecision-making strategies.

Computer-Assisted Instruction in Science. In this appli-cation, each planet, one by one, is slowly drawn on the screenin a colorful display before the student. The orbits of theplanets, the orbits of comets, and the planets' sizes in rela-tion to the others also are brilliantly animated. This particu-lar program, by Synergistic Software, is actually a mini-movieabout the solar system, in which the student is given informstion oh individual planets and their moons, about omets -afid

asteroids, and other illustrations of complex orbital.relations ips.

Stu nts usually work,individually at the microcomputerwith a program that corresponds to the curriculum material pre-sented in class. The teachers first use this program as ademonstration to the entire class. The science department's

157

Ibt1

single microcomputer is on wheels, and can be moved from oneclassroom to the next. It is used at the front of the room forthe entire classroom and moved into a quiet corner for indivi-dual use. ,Only the interested students continue using the pro-gram, once demonstrated, for both practice and reinforcement.The science teacher is adamant about no one being forced to usethe microcomputer. However, some students who are absent orbehind in their work are urged to use it.

The science teachei says that the microcomputer is Opularwith-most of the students and can be found in use every day in

the basic science class for special education students. Fifteestudents attend the science class for a double period, so eachstudent can use the microcompujer at least once a week forapproximately 20 minutes.

Record Keeping System (C.M.I.). In this application, anEnglish teacher, interested in the administrative uses of themicrocomputer, has developed a record keeping system for the

entire department. With the microcomputer master teacher'sassistance, an existing computer program (P.F.S.) was adapted tcode in various test scores pertinent to the curriculum.

The English teacher was responsible for the initial data4tritsy on all the students in the fall of 1982. Once the systemwas established, she taught the other four English teachers howto enter and retrieve information. The actual records areutilized in a number of ways. Teachers can enter student iden-tification numbers and redeive a listing of each Student's testscores and grades. Lists of students who have completed compe-tency requirements can be searched and printed. Students wholack a specific skill or need certain courses can also be iden-tified in the system.

This system replaces manual files on each student, kept b5

different teachers, that were not coordinated and that demandeunnecessary duplication. It is the first attempt at maintainira central information file on testing in the school and is ex-pected to be adopted by the math department next year.

Once a year, the records are printed, with the data disksbeing updated throughout the school year. The printing hascreated some problems because the. English department's microcorputer is not equipped with a printer and time has to be sche-duled on the printers in the microcomputer censer and office.It is expected that a printer will soon be purchased because iiis a major part of the application.

III. ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES

Centralization and Decentralization

The microcomputers in Minuteman exemplify two differentissues regarding centralization and decentralization. First,within the microcomputer system, there has been a deliberateattempt to mix centralized and decentralized patterns of leader-ship: On the one hand, the Superintendent and microcomputermaster teacher have exercised strong, central control in deter-mining the microcomputer acquisition patterns. On the otherhand, teacher do not simply receive microcomputers for theirclassrooms, but must first demonstrate their ability, to use andintegrate the microcomputers in their classroom plans. Similar-ly, some microcomputers are located in centralized places (e.g.,the media _center), but other microcomputers are decentralizedand located in individual classrooms.

Second, the centralization and decentralization issue isrelevant outside of the microcomputer system. Thus, in additionto the 22 Apple II-Plus microcomputers, the district's computercenter (an administrative unit) has three Digital PDP -ll mini-computers. These are replacements for two minicomputers thathad been in operation through 1981 - 1982. Terminals to the mini-computer system are located in the data processing department(an instructional unit) and in the special edu'cation, guidance,nurse and dean's offices, serving three major groups 'of func-tions:

student user students in the data processingdepartment of the,electronics cluster have fulluse of one minicomputer, in conjunction withtheir computer lab (for programming and tech-nician training ;

student informs ion: all of the district'sattendance, grade reports, warning lists,student medical information,,student informa-tion system, special education student data,special education quarterly reports, and classscheduling are done by the minicomputers; and

administration: the payroll, accounts pay-able, budget, and related records (includingservice to the Town of Lincoln) are done bythe minicomputers.

159,

.1.bZ

Those large and diverse functions have created constantoverloaling of the minicomputer system, especially because itrelies on disk drives of limited capacity (RLO-2's), and as aresult the system has frequent down-time. This problem was notas severe in previous years, becaute the disk drives in theolder system had greater capacity.

The problem of down-time, coupled with tight schedules foraccess time, have led some minicomputer users to begin develop-ing a preference for microcomputers. For example, the guidanceoffite now uses a microcomputer in addition to the minicomputerterminal, for easier and more flexible management of certainstudent data and attendance records.

Originally, the minicompu er staff in the computer centerhad little or nothing to do wi the microcomputer system. Themicrocomputer master teacher n ted that, "the computer centeralong with the data processing department have realized, butonly in the last few months, that the microcomputers/are a powe

to be used." Also, s year, some need to coordinate hasemerged over the a quisition of new equipment, such as a printethat needed to b = compatible with both systems. Such needs havresulted in so e initial collaborative efforts--e.g., the microcomputer mast r teacher and computer center director recentlyformed a "co rdinating committee."

ecial a d Re ular Education Interaction

Mihute an is a vocational-technical school and there is

relatively ttle distinction between the special and regular

education se vices. Special education students are mainstreamsinto the enti e program.

However, e ery special education student is assigned to aresource teacher lor at least one academic period a day. More

time is spent in he resource room, depending on a student'sskill levels and ability to take the regular academic subjects.Special education students with poor reading and math skills azassigned to the developmental labs for remedial work. Overall,these distinctions have nevertheless not led to any clear dif-ferences regarding the use of microcomputers for special educa-tion as opposed to vocational education.

One characteristic worth reiterating, however, is that the/microcomputers have largely been purchased with non-special edtcation (i.e., Occupational Education) funds.

1 60

Administrative and Instructional Applications

This is not a major issue, even though a few administrativeapplications exist. In general, the microcomputers are'dedica-ted to instructional applications, with the administrative useshaving only recently emerged. The single major exception is theonePmicrocomputer assigned to the Superintendent, who uses itfor administrative purposes. (The dominance of the instruction-al applications was one reason for selecting this site in thefirst place.)

Training

The first microcomputer inservice training took place inthe fall of 1980, after the school's first purchase of twomicrocomputers. The course was open to all staff members andran for two hours, once a week after school, for a period of 15weeks. Under the tutelage of the Superintendent and withassistance from the microcomputer master teacher and the hard-ware supplier, 60 teachers learned the rudiments of microcompu-ter use. The course covered system operation, evaluation andselection of software, and lesson development (using Apple Pilotand Aristotle's Apple).

As an extension of the training, six of the most interestedand proficient inservice graduates were paid during the summerof 1981 to develop instructional software in their academic ortrade areas. These efforts resulted in a vocational aptitudeevaluation package for the guidance office, computer-assisted-instruction programs for the distributive education and culinaryarts department, and software on grammar and sentence construc-tion for the English students.

Training currently takes place on a regular basis throughmini-courses which are conducted every five weeks after schoolfor two-hour sessions. Each course is a basic introduction ofthe use of microcomputers and the use to instructional andadministrative applications. Fifty staff members completed thetwo courses offered in the fall of 1982.

The mater teacher's microcomputer office is used fortraining on 4\continual, informal basis. Teachers request timewith the master teacher during free periods or after school, tolearn anything \from simple computer operations to basic pro-gramming.

161

Emerging Roles

To assist the initiation of microcomputer use in the dis-trict, the Superintendent created two new roleS in the fall of1981.

First, the Superintendent assigned one teacher the respon-sibility of being the "microcomputer master teacher". Previous.

ly a resource teacher in the developmental math lab, the masterteacher now divides his responsibilities between his specialeducation students and coordinating the microcomputer activitie

in the school. This master teacher is responsible, for providininservice training, maintaining the equipment, and serving as acontinuing resource to the staff members and students.

Second, a staff person in the media center/library becamethe "microcomputer specialist" for the microcomputer center.The main responsibilities of the microcomputer specialist in-clude scheduling and managing the use of the center's microcom-puters and maintaining the district's software library. Themicrocomputer specialist also provides general computer literacas well as independent computer projects to any interestedstudent. In addition to his regular school hour functions, themicrocomputer specialist also teaches adult education eveningclasses in computer literacy and a microcomputer summer camp at

the school.a

LINDEN SCHOOL DISTRICTLinden, Michigan

Case Study Report

Susan A. Brummel(SRA Technologies, Inc.)

Karl D. White(SRA Technologies, Inc.)

I. SUMMARY NARRATIVE AND CHRONOLOGYThe School District 167Overview of Microcomputers Studied 168

Chronology 168

II. FEATURES OF THE MICROCOMPUTERSIntroduction 172

Management of the Microcomputers 173

Illustrative Applications 174CAI in Math--Secondary Special Education 174

Individualized Instruction/Counseling--Elementary 174

CAI--Special Education Students 175

III. ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES -

Centralization and DecentralizationSpecial and Regular Education InteractionAdministrative and Instructional ApplicationsTrainingEmerging Roles

1761.76

177178178

The authors are grateful to Joe Hooper, Superintendent, forgranting permission for the Linden School District to partici-pate in-this study. We would like' to thank William Hummel forarranging the visit and assisting the research team on site. Wealso'appreciate the assistance given us by all the othereducators in Linden who met with us and gave generously of theirtime to make our efforts successful.

163

I. SUMMARY NARRATIVE AND CHRONOLOGY

The School District

The Linden School District is one of 21 independent schoolsystems in Genesee County, Michigan. Linden is a=small, ruraldistrict with a student population of 2,479 for the 1982-1983academic year. The district occupies five buildings: a dis-trict building, two elementary schools (one building for grades1-3 and one building for grades K, 4 and 5), a middle school forgrades 6-8, and a high school for grades,-9 -12. In Linden, 99percent of thestudents are white. The residential populationnumbers 11,744 persons.

Since 1981, the district has experienced slowly decliningenrollment and a sharp decrease in public funds for education.The unemployment rate in the area is high (22 percent) due tolayoffs in the automobile industry. These conditions have ledto the consolidation of two schools, as well as reductions in"enrichment" courses (music, foreign languages, student news-papers, drama, etc.), athletic piograms, guidance services, andteaching and non-teaching positions. At the present time thereare no district-subsidized, extracurricular activities. In1981, the school day was reduced by one hour.

There are 107 students served by the special education pro-.gram dis ict-wide. The special education supervisor is respon-sible for three school districts; he spends about one third ofhip tim in Linden. The full-tune staff consists of 11 specialeduca n teachers and 4 teacher aides. Three of the teachersi17-aesignated as teacher consultants; they provide assi anceto mainstreamed special education students and act as i ternalconsultants to the regular education teachers. All fac lty mem-bers are responsible for maintenance of required s eci educa-tion reports on each assigned student. The distric contract'sfor special student evaluations (psychological, etc ) with diag-nosticians employed-by a neighboring district. Special educa-tion services are provided in both resource and self-containedclassrooms in all buildings.

Microcomputers were introduced in Linden.by the special ed-ucation program in 1979. Currently there are 14 microcomputersused for special education. In.addition to these, 4he distrActhas implemented other computer applications: a regular educa-,tion microcomputer lab at the high school; access to a county -maintained mainframe computer fora, career guidance program andfor advariety of administrative fUnctions (master scheduling,grade reporting, student records and payroll); and( a minicompu-ter in the district office. Additional microcomputers at the .

164

168

igh school are used for upper level math and computer literacyastruction during school hours and for adult ducation computeriteracy in the evening. The use of this tech ology is continu7ag to expand, with the acquisition of hardwar and software:curring as funds become available.

verview of Microcomputers Studied

At the time of the- case study (March -1983) -there were_23icrocomputers in the district. Our investigation focused on----he 14 used for instructional applications with special educa-ion students. These 14 microcomputers are located in specialducation classrooms in er-711 of the four school buildings andre only used for instru, -.on of special education students.

The two elementary schools each have onetape-driven Commodore PET, on whichlocally developed software in math andlanguage arts is used.

The middle sithool houses six CommodorePET and two pple microcomputers dis-tributed among four classrooms., The AppleII-Plus units are complete with colormonitors, disk drives, and dot-matrixprinters

Each of the two special educationclassrooms at the high school containstwo Commodore PETs, a printer, and diskdrive. The microcomputers are usedfor drill-and-practice in the math andlanguage arts curriculum.

:hronology

In the fall of 1979, two special education teachers at themiddle school decided it would be useful-to acquire microcompu -.

ters for the instruction of special_education students. With no

district funds available, and with approval from the specialeducation supervisor, the teachers. wrote a proposal and justi-fication to use special education (flow-through Part B) funds to

purchase one microcomputer. This request was granted. The

teachers then approached the student council for money from fund

kaisers to purchase a second microcomputer and were' also granted

the funds. The two sources of funds were combined and used to

acquire three microcomputers through a special "three-for-two"offer available on Commodore PETS.

10

The three microcomputers were distributed upon arrival toindividual special education classrooms at the middle school.Because this was the first microcomputer implementation in thedistrict, the teachers had to learn on their own how to incor-porate this new technology into their instructional programs.

The expansion of the special education system has been ac-complished primarily through the further allocation of specialeducation flow-through funds for additional hardware and soft-ware. In the fall of 1980, three additional Commodores werepurchased and in the fall of 1981, six Commodore PETs were ac-quired and distributed throughout the district. In the fall of1982, a complete Apple II-Plus unit was added to the system. Anadditional Apple II-Plus was ordered in February 1983, usingmoney raised by the special education faculty through the saleof bagels before school and during lunch. "Bagel money" hasbeen used since 1980 to acquire peripheral equipment (floppydisks, printers, ,disk-drives) for the system.

1

Other periph%ral equipment has been purchased with a 1981federal grant which supported a research project entitled "Af-Model Program in Microcomputer Utilization with Handicappeg,Students." The grant application was written by one of theteachers originally involved in acquiring microcomputers. Thegrant y was used for additional disk drives, printers, andcome ial y produced software for math instruction. The pro-ject a so ovided for the development of teacher manuals on theuse of the icrocomputer, and for the development of a mathcurriculum -oftware package. This project was conducted jointlywith two neighboring school districts./

The major events in the implementation of microcomputers inthe Linden School District are presented in Table 1.

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N

170

Table 1: Chronology of Implementation

DateMonth-Year Event

LindenSchoolDistrict

1979 -1980 Academic Year

Oct. 1979

Nov. 1979

March 1980

1980-1981 Academic Year

Sept. 1980

Nov. 1980

Jan. 1981

May 1981

Two interested teachers seekpermission to use specialeducation funds to buy amicrocomputer.

Three Commodore PETs purchasedfor middle school (Part B andother funds).

A dual-disk drive and printerpurchased with special educa-tion funds for middle'school.

Three Commodore PETS purchasedand distributed: one to middleschool; two to high school.

Special Education teachers be-gin selling bagels to raisemoney for microcomputers.Began proposal for grant ap-plication.

Proposal submitted for federalproject.

One dot-matrix printer and oneApple II unit purchased formiddle school. Bagel moneyused for purchases.

Aug. 1981 'Grant for federal projectapproved.

1981-1982 Academic Year

Sept. 1981 Five printers and two diskdrives purchased with grantmoney; five disk drives andsix Commodore PETS purchasedwith speCial education flow-through:/funds.

Jan. 1982 Apple/printer purchased with"bagel funds."

1982-1983 Academic Year

Sept. 1982

Feb. 1983

Apple II unit purchased withspecial education flow-thrOughfunds.

App-14'17Cilatt_iipurchased with"bag nds.

168

II. FEATURES OF THE MICROCOMPUTERS

Introduction

The special education microcomputers are used solely by toespecial education faculty to provide computer- assisted- instruc-

tiontion (CAI). This application of the microcomputers in math andlanguage arts areas has, been integrated into almost every moduleof the curriculum for special education students. The softwareemphasizes drill- and - practice of skills introduced by theteacher. Experimentation with additional, special capabilitiesor potentials of the microcomputer is left to the individualteachers. Their initiative and levels of expertise with thetechnology determine the nature and extent of special appli-cations made in each classroom.

There are currently 12 Commodore PETs and 2 Apple II-Plusmicrocomputers used in the Linden School District special edu-

cation program. The Apple II systems are complete with diskdrives, dot matrix printers, and color monitors. Seven of theCommodore PET microcomputers are equipped with disk drives andthere are seven dot-matrix printers for use with the Commodoreunits.

A

At one elementary school the microcomputer is in the frontportion of a "storage closet" inside the teacher consultant'sclassroom. At'the other elementary school the computer is lo-cated in the back of a large classroom next to restrooms,drinking fountain, sink and counter. At the middle school thecomputers are distributed across four special education class-rooms. Two rooms-share two Commodore PETS with disk drives andprinter and one Apple II u4t. A third room contains twoCommodore PETs with disk drives and a printer. The fourth roomhas two Commodore PET units with one dual disk drive and aprinter. Each of the high school special education classroomshas two Commodore PETs, a disk drive, and a printer.

The micro omputers are used daily for CAIi_rt math and lan-

guage arts fo special educatio \students. Norregular educatioteachersedAadministrators mak regular use of these computers.Twenty -an speCial educatio -Students in the elementaryschools, 52 in the middle school, and 28 in the high school usethe microcomputers.

Interviews with the special education teachers indicatedthat most of the'mi ro mputers are in constant use during allscheduled class periods and that frequent requests to use themicrocomputers duri g 1 nch periods are Teceived and honored.

The teachers indicate that all special education students

16j

utilize the microcomputers for a portion of either langOge artsor math instruction each week and many lor both subject areas.

Management of the Microcomputers

The Linden School District special education program issupervised by a one-third time director who reports to theSuperintendent. There are 11 special education faculty membersin the district, three of whom are designated teacher/consul-tants--one for each academic level (elementary, middle, and se-condary). One special education teacher at the elementary leveldoes not have a microcomputer.

The director of speCial education is responsible for aamakes recommendations concerning acquisition, maintenance, ihdutilization of the microcomputers. These decisions must then beapproved by the Superintendent. One teacher at the middleschool has emerged &informally as the district microcomputer spe-cialist and his opinion is sought and considered in all deci-sions concerning special education microcomputers. During thecourse of the federal project, this microcomputer specialist wasprimarily responsible for technical aspects of the project:writing computer programs, purchasing equipment, proVidinginservice to staff and students, and disseminating materials.The principal of the middle school was primarily responsible forfiscal matters, for administering the research design, and forprogram evaluation. Now that the project has terminated, use ofthe microcomputers is determined independently within eachschool.

No standardized procedures exist for allocating ha dwareand distributing software in the district. Some units ere dis-tributed to the elementary and high schools as a res of theirparticipation in the federally funded research project. Thesemicrocomputers have remained in the schools where they wereplaced.

The special education teachers at the middle school are theonly ones in the district who are currently working to securemoney for additional microcomputers rnd the will determine howthis equipment will be distributed. Softwa e acquisitions arecoordinated informally. InterViews indicat d that sometimesthere were.duplftations in the review and ordering of softwareby teachers in different schools. Among the middle schoolfadulty, there was evidence of pooling budget money; informaldidcussions also occurred regarding software purchases.

The 1981, federally funded project provided money for the'development of special education math software for the dis*ict,the purchase of several commercial software math packag Id

170

tant at an assigned time in the resource room for special in-struction or counseling to supplement regular education class-room activities. Most of these students are mainstreamed in re-gular classrooms for the majority of each day. The teachertalks with the students about how things are going in class andthen either tutors individual students on a problem area or setsup the microcomputer for a student to practice skills. The stu-dents work. individually at the microcomputer with either theteacher or the teacher's aide also sitting at the terminal tooffer encouragement and extra instruction.

The microcomputer is located in a small storage room insidethe resource room and gives the user and teacher complete pri-vacy. There are two chairs at the terminal, ample room forteacher and student to sit and work comfortably. After thelesson, the student's progress is checked and a written orverbal report given to the regular classroom teacher asappropriate. Commercial programs (Milliken Math Series) as wellas locally developed software in math is used.

Computer Assisted Instruction in Middle School SpecialEducation Classroom. The teacher uses the microcomputers forinstruction, but also for behavior management--good conduct isrewarded with "free play" time on the microcomputer. Theteacher comments that there have been significant improvementsin student behavior.

One student is practicing a vocabulary lesson at one of thetwo Commodore PETs it the rear of the classroom. The student isgiven a choice of words on the right side of the monitor fromwhich to select and fill in the blanks in sentences on the left.With each correct response a bright starurst design appears andthe student usually smiles. At the end of the exercise the stu-dent is given feedback as to the number of correct and incorrectresponses. The teacher indicated that each student in the classuses the microcomputer fora portion of all math and languagearts modules.

4

176

III. ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES

Centralization and Decentralization

Microcomputer applications are mostly decentralized. Boththe initiation and implementation of the system began at theclassroom level. Although the director of special educationprepares the special education budgets, he must divide his timeamong three districts and is not directly involved in day-to-dadecisions regarding the microcomputers. The four building grincipals are responsible for equipment assigned to their schools,and individually authorize teacher requests for hardware orsoftware to be purchased through classroom supply money. Thedecentralized functioning of the system is well'established witno plans for centralized coordination or standardization, eitheat the building or district levels. There are no set procedurefor sharing or distributing software, no district inventory ofsoftware housed in individual classrooms, and no mechanisms for

evaluating software. Building principals are involved in coor-din- ---qh the scheduling of classes.

tivity involving centralized coo lination Wasthe feuerally funded project which required the c. ordination ofmicrocomputers at all four district school buildings. Duringthis time, the special education teacher consultant (and grantco-author) informally emerged as the "district microcomputerspecialist." His opinion was sought regarding machine use,functions and repair, software suggestions, and funding sources

The mainframe computer used by the Linden School Districtcentral 'office belongs to the Genesee County Intermediate Schoc

District. This Burroughs 9000 is used for student records,master scheduling, payroll, budget', grade reporting, and acareer guidance program in the high school. No interaction be-tween the microcomputers and the mainframe takes place.

Special and Regular Education Interaction

Special education students are mainstreamed to .the extenttheir skills and abilities allow, and are assigned to specialeducation resource rooms for intensive developmental and reme-

diall\

work. This results in some students remaining in specialeducation rooms for the entire day and others only for assigneeperiods. The special education teacher consultants interactwiths'regular education faculty members about the needs of the

mainstreamed students. These interactions may or may not 'in-

r-11,r4 consideration of the computer-assisted-instruction that

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177

takes place in the special education classrooms.

Although there are additional microcomputers in the dis-trict, no appreciable collaboration over any aspect of use wasevidenced. This is largely due to a strictly enforced regula-tion requiring that special education microcomputers be used byspecial education students only. The regular education micro-computers were only open to students taking upper level math andscience instruction.

Nevertheless, a few examples of regular and special edu-cation interactions have occurred:

A special education teacher was asked todemonstrate the microcomputers in regulareducation classrooms. Two requests weremade.

An elementary special education teacherdistributed a list of public domainclassroom software to all faculty membersin the sc000l, and offered to make copies

r teachers. No requestswere made.

Conversations transpired between an el -mentary special education teacher and athird grade teacher regarding ways touse the coputer for instructional pur-poses.

A middle school special education teach-er was approached by a regular educationhome economics teacher with questionsregarding the design of software for anutrition class.

Administrative and Instructional Applications

Microcomputers are not used for administrative applicationsin the Linden School District. Two school principals, however,indicated that they recognized the future potential of such ap-plications. Computer assisted administrative functions in thedistrict are accomplished with a minicomputer and a mainframeterminal in the district office. There is no conflict or dupli-cation of activities as a result of the introduction of micro-computers.

178

Training

The two teachers involved in planning for and initiatingthe special education microcomputers began reading about the usof microcomputers when approval for the purchase of micro-computers for the Linden School District was obtained. No for-mal training was provided by the district for the initial usersof the system.

During the federally funded project, 1981-1982, 7 of the ;

teachers involved in the project received ten hours of computexliteracy training and inservice training on the use of the spe-cially designed software for the project. Three of these teachers were from the Linden School district. No other inservicetraining on using the microcomputers has been offered to thefaculty. One special education teacher at the elementary schocattended an inservice offered by the Genesee County IntermediatSchool District.

The Linden School District offers adult education classesin computer literacy. Several Linden school faculty members atadministrators completed the course and several others were enrolled for future sessions. This course is available to schoo:employees ct a reduced cost and teachers are encouraged to at-

tend.

Emergl_la Rom

There have been no news or9,mizational roles created in th4

Linden School District related to the implementation of micro-computers. Informally, one of the middle school special edu-cation teachers is considered the local expert and is frequentcalled by other microcomputer users for advice. At every levein the district structure the opinion was expressed that if

microcomputer technology is to expand and be effective in theschools, a "specialist" with time allotted to train and assist

the users is needed. However, due to the financial constraintin, the district at. the present time, positions are being eliminated, not created.

179

TOWNSHIP OF OCEAN SCHOOL DISTRICTOakhurst, New .Jersey

Case Study Report

Tom V. Hanley(SRA Technologies, Inc.)

Donald P. Horst(SRA Technologies, Inc:)

I. SUMMARY NARRATIVE AND CHRONOLOGYThe School District 181

."'Overview of Microcomputers Studied 182Chronology 183

II. FEATUREkOF THE MICROCOMPUTERSIntrbductionManagement of the MicrocomputersIllustrative Applications

Computer-Assisted Instruction (Elementary)Computer-Assisted Instruction (Intermediate)Computer-Assisted Instruction (Secondary)

1881891'90

190191192

III. ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUESCentralization and Decentralization 193

.N\ Special and Regular Education Interaction 195Administrative and Instructional Applications 195

Training 196Emerging Roles 197

The authors are grateful to Robert J. Mahon, Superinten -\dent, for granting permission for''the Township of Ocean Schools,Oakhu.st, N.J., to participate in this study. We-would like tothank Glenn Morgan, the Assistant Superintendent, for arrangingthe visit and assisting the research team on site. We also ap-preciate the assistance given us by Leona Burke-Worth, SusanLeGlise, John Best, and all the other educators in Oakhurst whomet with us and gave generously of their time to make our ef-forts successful.

176

181

I. SUMMARY NARRATIVE AND CHRONOLOGY

The School District

Ocean Township, a suburban, middle to upper-middle incomeresidential community of 25,000, is made up of the towns of Oak-hurst, Wanamassa, Wayside, and a number of smaller towns.Located, on the New Jersey coast approximately fifty miles southof New York City, it is adjacent to the resort city oI AsburyPark.

The community consists largely of professional, self-em-ployed managerial, blue collar, and civil service personnel.Nearby electronic industries and the Amy installation at FortMonmouth employ anumber of its citize s.

The Township of Ocean School Di Xrict includes a districtoffice building and five schools: a high school, an intermediateschool, and three elementary schools. The present student popu-lation numbers 4,158. This enro4Ment represents a decline froma high of 4,900 several years ago i The school population ispredominantly white, with approxihaately 5 percent Blacks and 5percent Asians.

District administrators reported that school funding was"'financially healthy" and that the local voters have approvedall school funds requested in recent years. In New Jersey, thestate education agency rates all school districts on the basisof their economic sufficiency, with a ten point scale fromlowest to highest. Township of Ocean School District is ratedat the ninth level.

The organization of special education programs is quitestraightforward. The director of special services reports tothe assistant superintendent of schools. Special educationteachers and related personnel are responsible to the directorand to their building principals. The special services programincludes these persOhnel: director (1)1 learning-disabilityteacher consultants (5), nurses (5), physician (1), psycholo-gists (2), social workers (2), speech therapists (3), special,class teachers (8), resource room teachers (7), and supplementalteachers and aides (3).

Special services provides instruction within the districtfor 203 students with classified handicaps and 271 students whoare "eligible for speech correction." Nineteen handicapped stu-dents are provided with instruction outside the district. "Inaddition to special education, the district also offeri instruc-tional programs for basic skills students and for gifted/talent-

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ed students. .,

At the time of the ase study (February 1983), there were 48microcomputer units in e district. -Of these, 40 were part of a

general, district-wide nstructional program. The remainingeight microcomputers were used independently for administrativeapplications or for specific business education and industrialarts programs in the high school. ,

Overview of Microcomputers Studied

This case study focused on the 40 microcomputers that wereused for general instructional applications. These include 37Commodore PETS, a Commodore CBM, a Vic-20, and an Atari-800. The

majority of these microcomputers,are located in computer labs:,16 in the intermediate school lab and 13 in the high school lab.The remaining 10 are placed in individual classrooms And resouice

rooms. The Commodore CBM is iodated in the distrit :,specialeducation office.

The microcomputers are used for a variety of purposes,, butmost of these fall into two major categories: (1)

computer-assisted-instruction (CAI T--and (2Y,computerliteracy /programming. ExamplesOf microcomputer use include-the'

fallowing:

o Special education teachers in all'the schoolsuse microcomputers fop CAI to support educational objectives and reinforce (with main-streamed students) curriculum topics from r -gular education programs.

o Basic Skills (Title I) teachers usemicrocomputers to provide computer-assistedinstruction in-math, spelling, and reading.Teachers select software appropriate for eachstudent and,.where the software allows,customize the CAI by changing "difficulty" and"speed" levels for each student.

o Gifted/talent-d students inthe intermediateand elementary schools are introduced tomicrocomputers through computer literacy andprogramming courses.

o Math teachers tit the high school offer coursesin both basic computO literacy (introduction)and advanced programming for secondarystudents. The courses are conducted in thehigh school computer labe and between 300-

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400 students are instructed each year. The'lead teacher for 'thisprogram plans on "fullcomputer literacy"Jor all district studentsand is introducing- computer courses at theintermediate school as well.

Throughout-the district, regular- educationteachers are beginning to use availablemicrocomputers for CAI with their students.The applications-are in reading, math,science, and languages.

The director of special services is devel-oping administrative applications for herdepartment, using a Commodore-CBM that was,purchased specifically for that application.

The other computers (8) in the district are used for admin-istrative applications and for business and industrial artscourses in the high 'school.

Chronology

Microcomputer use began four years ago (fall 1979) when thedistrict math supervisor and several high school math teachersapproached the assistant superidtendent of schools with a propo-sal to purchase microcomputers for instructional purposes. Pre-viously, computer programming had been taught by one of the highschool.teachers for eight years using the school mainframe com-puter. The assistant superiratendent was enthusiastic.

Using funds fjom Title I, Title II, and gifted/talentedbudgets, 14 Commodore PET miceocomp4ers C:Tere purchased inDecember 1979. A key decision was made not to distribute themachines until the teachers had received adequate training in

their use. First, a district-wide awareness session was held onan afternoon in January. Then a series of voluntary, 16-hourinservice courses was initiated. To date,-two-thirds (200) ofthe district teachers have completed this training.

The original 14 microcomputers were allocated among thethree el nta--, schools, one intermediate school, and one highschool. Du ink: the remainder of the first year of the programand througho t the second year, these computers were used by the

le I, gift /talented, and'high school, computer science stu-dents. During the second year, however, most of the specialeducation teacher's and administrators completed the inservicetraining course. At the beginning of the third year (fall1981), the special services division bought five Commodore PET

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units, one for each of the five schools in the district, and aCommodore CBM with dual disks and a letter quality printer for

the district office. The CBM is used for special educationpaperwork, especially required correspondence with parents. In

addition, an ambitious project for automating part of the IEPdevelopment process is under way. The Commodore PET microcompu-ters at the elementary and high schools are located in specialeducation resource rooms and self-contained classrooms.

Along with the microcomputers purchased by special ser-vices, additional equipment for all users in the district con-tinued to grow. When the six special education computers werepurchased in the summer of 1981, eight additional Commodore PETunits were purchased for other purposes. A third set of 12 Com-modore PET microcomputers was purchased the summer of 1982.

Two factors that contributed to the expansion of microcom-puters in the district were: (1) establishment of a core groupof persons to coordinate and assist others in using the micro-computers; and (2) extensive provision of inseivice trainingopportunities for all teachers in the district. The core groupconsists of a math teacher and the math supervisor, the assis-tant superintendent, and the director of special projects. Fromthe initiation of microcomputer usage in the district (1979),this group has worked together to support and guide adoption andexpansion of units in the district. One of their key roles hasbeen to provide training and technical assistance to theteachers. This began with a district-wide awareness program in

January 1980, and has continued through a series of trainingsessions. Not only has district training reached a majority ofthe local teachers, but 400-500 educators from other districtshave participated in (and paid for) the training that the

district provides.

The major events in the implementation of Microcomputers inthe Township of Ocean School District are presented in Table 1.

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Table 1: Chronology of Implementation Ocean SchoolDistrict

DateMonth-Year Event

1979-1980 Acdaemic Year

Sept. 1979

Fall 1979

Dec. 1979

Jan. 1980

Feb. 1980

Spring 1980

1980-1981 Academic Year

Throughout Year

Informal committee from mathdepartment meets with Super-intendent and assistant super-intendent to initiate planningfor microcomputer implementa-tion.

Committee plans focus for ini-tial application and identifiesfunding sources.

Delivery of first 14 microcom-puters.

District-wide awareness ses-sion.

First training sessions forteachers (start of eight-weekcourse, two hours per week).

Committee establishes central-ized software acquisition;math supervisor will coordi-nate all review and purchaseof educational software.

First district-wide implemen-tation of the microcomputers(after teachers had beentrained):

6 in high school computerscience

3 in intermediate school(gifted/talented program)

3 in one elementary school

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Spring 1981

1981-1982 Academic Year

Oct. 1981

Feb. 1982

1982-1983 Acaemic Year

Oct. 1982

Oct. ,1882

Feb. 1983

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(gifted/talented program)1 in each of two elementary

schools (Title I labs- -"basic skills")

Special education, personneltake introductory computerinservice training providedespecially for them.

Second.major acquisition ofmicrocomputers. Of 14, 6are purchased with specialeducation funds.

6 more to high school compu-ter labs

1 to high school resourceroom (spec. ed.)

3 more to intermediateschool computer lab

3 to the special educationrooms in the elementaryschools

1 Commodore CBM to the ad-ministration building forspecial education use

First edition of districtnewsletter published and,distributed to the community.Contains extensive coverageof microcomputer activities.

Third major acquisition of(12) microcomputers. Most,.(8) are added to interme-diate school computer lab.

District initiates monthlyorientation/training pro-grams for personnel fromother districts.

Second edition of districtnewsletter.

Spring 1983.

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Microcomputer committeeplans linking curriculumareas to educational software.

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II. FEATURES OF THE MICROCOMPUTERS

Introduction

The instructional microcomputers in Ocean Township arelocated in all five schools in the district, but their highestconcentration is in the intermediate school (16) and the high

school (15). Eight microcomputers are distributed across thethree elementary schools. One microcomputer is in the specialeducation office. This concentration_ of microcomputers at thesecondary level reflects the initial adoption for computerliteracy/programming classes. Nevertheless, in all buildingsmicrocomputer use is shared by teachers and students in dif-ferent programs.

Each of the three elementary schools has one special educe-t on computer. These computers were purchased with specialducation funds and are located in special education rooms(resource rooms or self-contained classrooms). Special educartion students have priority use of these microcomputers and, ingeneral, appear to use them more than 50 percent of the time.

Special education students are mainstreamed to a great extent ir

these schools, and some may use other computers in basic skillsclasses. Two of the elementary schools also each have a micro-computer located in a basic skills classroom. The third elemen-tary school has three additional microcomputers that were pur-chased with state gifted/talented funds and are used in thelocal program for "enrichment."

At the intermediate school (grades 6-8), all 16 microcompu-

ters are located in a single computer lab. One of these compu-ters was purchased with special education funds, but it is notdistinguished from the other microcomputers as far as the users

are concerned. Special education teachers schedule groups of

students into the lab. Basic skills (Title I), gifted/talepted,and regular classroom teachers also schedule time for their/

classes in the lab.

The computer lab is located in a tiered, "lecture-hall'

type" room. On each level there are long, curved tables withswivel chairs attached. The lab is actually a small amphi-theater. In front, there is a large-screen television which aninstructor can hook-up to ,a microcomputer for demonstrationpurposes. Fourteen microcomputers (Commodore PETs) are arranged

around the tiered platforms. A Vic-20 microcomputer and anAtari-800 microcomputer arelcept in.an adjoining office, and mabe brought into the lab for use or demopstration. A large soft

ware library tabout 150 pr- ograms) is kept in ring binders that

sit on a table at the front-left of the amphitheater..

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This computer lab is in fairly constant use during theschool day. Based on prearranged scheduling (handled by theschool librarian), 'individual teachers bring their students intothe lab for class periods. The principle users of this resourceare the basic skills program, the gifted/talented program, andthe special education program in the intermediate school.Priority availability of the microcomputers fat these programswas based on the fact that they funded ,phe purchase of themicrocomputers. c

At the high school, there is a computer lab with 13 units,another microcomputer in a special education resource room, andanother in a basic skills classroom. The high school computerlab is used almost exclusively for secondary computer sciencecourses (introductory computer literacy, basic and advancedprogramming) .

The high school has two resource room teachers who teachalternate periods, sharing the single special education micro-computer. The microcomputer is used about 50 percent of theday, as one of many items in the resource room. The computer ison wheels and, when not used for special education, it is bor-rowed by foreign language or other regular education teachers.There is also a classroom for the emotionally disturbed in thehigh school, but they make very limited use of the microcompu-ter.

In addition to the instructional microcomputers, specialeducation funds were used to purchase one Commodore CBM 8032microcomputer with dual' disk drives and a letter quality prin-ter. This microcomputer is in the district office building andis used as a word processor for preparing special educationmaterials and for processing mailings to parents. Currently,special education teams are developing a system for this micro-computer to prepare .IEPs for special edu4ation students.

Management of the Microcomputers

During its four-year history of using microcomputers, theschool district has developed an informal but very active andinfluential committee of key persons who coordinate and managethe instructional use of microcomputers: the assistant superin-tendent of schools, the director of special projects, the super-visor of mathematics (K-12), and a math/computer scienceteacher.

The Superintendent is not as directly involved in the day-to-day operation of the microcomputers, but he fully supportsthe implementation and has acted successfully to secure school

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board support for the committee's efforts.

The informal committee exerts its influence over micro-computer implementation through the following mechanisms:

The purchase, acquisition, and location of allmicrocomputer hardware is directed by the com-mittee; they also identify available funds that)can be used for hardware purchases.

Similarly, software purchases are also directedby them. In particular, the math supervisorreviews all requests for software, submits or-ders to developers/distributors, and reviewsall software when it is first received. Whatshe doesn't like, she sends back. The commit-tee also organizes and implements district-widesoftware reviews by teachers.

The committee his established and regularlyconducts exten ive inservice training on micro-computers for teachers. Over two-thirds ofthe district personnel have participated in atleast one of the courses. In addition, between400-500 educators from outside the districthave attended workshops or district-sponsoredorientation sessions. Fees charged for atten-dance are used to purchase additional educationalsoftware in the district.

Illustrative Applications

To provide an idea of how the microcomputers are being usein the Township of Ocean School District, three illustrativeapplications are described below.

Computer-Assisted Instruction in an Elementary School Self

Contained Classroom. A group of five neurologically impaired

students is in the classroom, working individually with various

instructional materials. A boy and agirl, about seven yearsold, are assigned to the microcomputer. With a little help frothe teacher, they select software from a box of about ten tapecassettes sitting on_ the table beside the microcomputer, andload it into the cassette tape drive.

The microcomputer displays a sequence ofsix or eight let-ters from the alphabet. One letter in the sequence is missing,replaced by a blank. The task is to determine which letter is

missing and press the corresponding key. The two students take

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turns, but they help each other when one seems to be havingtrouble.

Usually, they get the correct answer. When they do, starsimmediately begin to appear one at a time, randomly scatteredover the screen, until in a few seconds the entire screen issprinkled with stars. The students' faces light up with excite-ment each time. Then they concentrate on the next set of let-ters that appears. When they make an occasional error, theprogram prompts them and gives them another chance.

After about ten minutes, the teacher directs the boy andgirl to new tasks elsewhere in the room, and two other studentstake their places at the microcomputer. The new "users" load aprogram that teaches simple arithmetic skills and becomeabsorbed in this activity while the teacher works with otherstudents in the room.

Com uter-Assisted Instruction in the Intermediate SchoolComputer Lab. Six perceptually-impaired boys and girls areworking in the computer lab. The lab is set up in a small ,

lecture hall off of the school's central library complex. Thehall has five ,curved tiers of tables that run the width of theroom, broken only by a single aisle in the middle. Seats arepermanently mounted to the support posts of the tables and arespring loaded to swing under the tables when not in use.

The lecturer's area at the front of the room is dominatedby a huge TV set with a 4-foot screen. The screen is dark atthe moment, but can be connected to a microcomputer for demon-strations by the teacher. Behind the computer, against thefront wall of the room, are two long tables on which arearranged about 150 cassette tape's in notebork -like holders.These tapes contain the wide variety of computer programsavailable for use by the students.

Fourteen Commodore PET microcomputers are spread out alongthe first three tiers of tables. Each is equipped with a cas-sette tape drive. Six of these are now in use by the specialeducation students. Most are working on arithmetic or languageskills and practice programs. Some of the programs make use ofgame-like formats, but the emphasis in all cases is on a seriousapproach to building basic skills. The teacher moves about theroom, observing the students and helping out where needed.

One boy, about 13 years old, is working on a reading prac-tice program. The microcomputer presents text at a rate that ispartially under control of the student. The programto develop sight reading skills, including correct left- o-rightscanning techniques. A: the request of the teacher, the boystops for a moment to explain some of the technicalities of the

18..,

computer sound system to the visitors. He is clearly very prowof his knowledge of the complex equipment.

The teacher explains that she has 20 students assigned toher special education resource room and that she schedules theninto the microcomputer lab/in small groups on a weekly basis.She assigns computer tapes to the students from the assortmentof tapes on the tables at the front of the room, depending onthe individual needs of each student. However, the tapes havebeen purchased to cover the complete range of students, from'special education to gifted/talented. Thus, not all of thetapes are useful in her classes.

Computer-Assisted Instruction in a High School Resource

Room. Four teenagers, three boys and a girl, are working in a

small classroom. One boy and the girl are working on writtenassignments at tables in different parts of the room. Theteacher works with the other two boys at the microcomputer, aCommodore PET with a cassette tape drive.

The program that the boys are using is designed to teachprefixes. It is one of about a dozen in the resource room. Tt

boys are working on the many meanings of the prefix "sub-" andone finds the lesson quite difficult. Later, the teacher ex-plains that he is good in math but has a serious problem withreading.

The program presents a meaning of "sub-" T'under") follow/by an example ("submarine") and a list of about ten possibledefinitions. The task is to press the key corresponding to the

correct definition. The boys take turns, and the teacher pro-vides extra help for the one with the special reading problemsHe has a hard time reading the long list of definitions, and tteacher gives him some prompts.

The complete lesson takes about fifteen minutes, and givethe boys a score at the end. One of the boys shows us how hecan list the computer program on the screen and change what thprogram will display. He is enthusiatic about using the micro

computer for learning, and is also very interested in computerprogramming.

The second boy, the one with special reading problems, sahe doesn't really like using the microcomputer very much, butsays it is better than most things he has to do in school.Afterwards, the teacher tells us that this boy has a very negahive attitude about school, and the microcomputer is one of thfew things that attracts his cooperation.

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III. ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES

Centralization and Decentralization

The district's use of microcomputers for instructionalpurposes contains elements that are centralized and elementsthat are decentralized. The informal, central committee(assistant superintendent, math supervisor, director of specialprojects, and math/computer science teacher) direct many impor-tant functions:

initial adoption and selection of hardware

allocation of microcomputers to schools and teachers

review and acquisition of educational software

teacher training and technical assistance

On the other hand, actual instructional applications areessentially decentralized. The central administration providesthe hardware, the .software, and the technical "know-how," butthe teachers are very much left to determine their own particu-lar use and application of these resources. The only minorexception to this patti rn occurs in the computer sciencecourses, which are planned by the math supervisor and the math/ -computer science teacher for the-intermediate and high schools.

For the other instructional applications, individualteachers (special education, basic skills, gifted/talented, someregular education teachers) select the software they wish to useand schedule their own applications. In many of these cases(e.g., special education, basic skills) the software selectionis further individualized for each student.

The administration is highly cognizant of this ultimate de-centralization (and uniqueness) of specific applications. Theyexpressed the opinion that this was important to encouragemicrocomputer implementation and that this flexibility promptedteachers to make more use of the technology. Nevertheless, theynow feel that some more coordination is necessary. However,they stated that they hope new steps by the central administra-tion, which they are now planning, would continue to supportrather than control use of the microcomputers. One feature theywould like to introduce would be-a "curriculum guide" for educa-tional softward. They hope to link the district's educationalsoftware with specific curriculum (grade, subject matter, task)

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objectives. this would serve to foster more selective andappropriate utilization of software by the teachers. As part of

this process, they would also like to communicate availabilityof software better to the teachers and get more control over thedistribution of software.

This current planning is associated with some minor pro-

blems noted in the schools. For example, the software "library"in the intermediate laboratory does not have a.formal"check-out" procedure. Teachers (and students) can take soft-ware-for their use and leave no record of who has it or when itwill be returned.

Another problem is that teachers are often not aware ofsoftware in the district that can be used by them. A particu-larly striking example of this occurred in the high school.Three teachers, with whom we spoke, expretkoceinterest in a type

of software that would allovtkhem to present individualized"practice-type" material. One teacher had been attempting, un-sucessfully, to identify commercial software for this purpose;

another had purchased commercial vbftwalre that proved useful;the third had worked with the math teacher (on the committee) to

develop software for such an application. None of the tnreewere aware of each others efforts. It is just this type of pro-blem that the central/committee is hoping to alleviate with bet-ter district-wide (and within-building) coordination and com-

munication.

In terms of the centralization-decentralization of applica-

tions, it should also be noted the district has a centralizeddata processing department. Until about four years ago, thehigh school math teacher used the mainframe computer -- throughbatch processing -- to teach programming .to.students. This same

math teacher is now one of the members of the district's infor-mal coordinating committee. It was largely through his effortsthat the initial decision to adopt microcomputers occurred. He

was dissatisfied with the availability of time on the.mainframe

to support the needs of his students. He also felt' that micro-

computers were "able to do more" and represented a promising

"personal tool for teachers and students."

The director of data proces ing is not directly involved in

instructional uses of the microco puters and feels that "as long

as the microcomputers are serving those needs -- fine." How-

ever, he expressed concern over potential redundancies --between mainframe and microcomputer applications -- in some of

the administrative uses that are being planned or initiated in

the district. He also believed that there should be more cen-tralized control over the use of microcomputers and was con-cerned about eventual maintenance problems. However, hiscurrent obligations -- he is installing a new mainframe computer

-- prevent him from having much involvement with themicrocomputer applications.

Special and Regular Education Interaction

Special education students are extensively mainstreamed inthe district. There is no separate special education school andthe great majority of handicapped students also participate inregular education. This strong level of interaction between thetwo programs is reflected insharing of the microcomputers. Inthe elementary schools and in the high schools, regular educa-tion teachers often use the a4crocomputers that are provided tospecial education or basic skills classrooms. In the interme-diate school, students from al.1 programs use the computer lab.

A noteworthy aspect of this interaction was reported by anumber of special education teachers. Because most of themicrocomputers in the elementary and intermediate schools wereacquired with special education or Title I funds, and priorityusage of the equipment was given to students and teachers inthose programs, these students have, to date, had much moreexperience with the microcomputers than the regular studentshave had. They are also more knowledgeable about the hardwareand software. Teachers were very enthusiastic in telling usthat -- now that the regular education programs are beginning tomake use of the microcomputers -6- the special education andbasic skills students often demonstrate and explarn the technol-ogy to their peers. This gives them a feeling of self- esteemand confidence and also fosters respect and friendship among thestudents. This was an unanticipated but welcome outcome for thespecial educators.

Administrative and Instructional Applications

The major thrust for adoption and implementation of the'microcomputers has been to sup,port instructional applications:computer-assisted instruction-`(CAI and computer literacy/pro-gramming. In a few cases where administrative applications areplanned or have been initiated, separate microcomputers -- twoApple II units in the business office; the Commodore CBM in thespecial education office -- have been purchased for thosepurposes. Consequently, to date there has been no competitionor conflict between administrative and instructional users. Aprincipal in an elementary school said that he had recently be-come very interested in potential administrative applicationsusing microcomputers, through his exposure to the units in hisschool. However, he also stated that he planned to acquire aseparate unit for such applications.

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Training

The training programis a major feature of the Ocean Town-ship microcomputer program. A decision was made at the planning

stage that no microcomputers would be distributed to he teach-

ers until they had undergone enough training to enable them touse the equipment properly.

The first step in the training program took place in

January 1980, shortly after the-first microcomputers were deliv-

ered. This step consisted of an afternoon awareness session of

about two hours to which all teachers, board members, and otherpotentially interested personnel were invited. The awarenesssession gave everyone a chance to see the microcomputers runningeducational software and to receive some "hands-on" experience

with the microcomputers.

Shortly after the awareness session, an inservice trainingprogram for teacherewas announced. The first group started inFebruary of 1980. Five grOups (up to 20 per group) took the

course during the first year. At the present time, over 200 of

the 300 teachers in theAistrict have completed the course, and

more teachers are signed up for future sessions. Members of 'the

coordinating committee and other local "av,,erts" teach the in-

service courses. In.addition,- a series of workshops and orien-

tation sessions has been conducted for personnel from outside

the district.

The course for Ocean Township personnel consists of eighttwo-hour sessions, one session per week. When the course wasfirst offered, the objective was to teach'participants to write

programs in BASIC. This turned out to be unrealistic for

teachers with no previous experience, and the course has beenchanged to cover (a) computer operations and (b) evaluating.commercial software. Participants must also complete a project

that involves some practical use of the microcomputers withintwo weeks of the end of the course.

While the course is completely voluntary, motivation forteachers to take the course is threefold. First, teachers mustcomplete the course in order to use the microcomputers.. Second,

completion of the course satisfies a district requirement fobinservice needed to receive salary increments.' Third, while thedistrict charges fifty dollars for the, course,-teachers arereimbursed upon successful completion, so the course is, in

effect, free.

Teachers who took the original version of the course(focusing on .BASIt prcgrammingOrhave been allowed to retake the

new version that focuses on computer use and software evalua-

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tion. In addition, an advanced !Iservice course on microcompu-ter programming is now offered.

For teachers from outside of the district, a shortenedversion of the course is offered (four two-hour sessions). The

content is similar to the course for Ocean Township personnel,but the emphasis is on introductory computer skills. The out-side teachers are not required complete a project or reviewsoftware.

Emerging Roles

The microcomputer system has created several new teachingpositions, both in high school computer science classes and in ateacher inservice training program developed in the district.However, the major new support role consists of an informal,half-time position as district technical support person. Thisposition is held by a math teacher, who was a member of the in-formal district coordinating committee. Beginning in the fallof 1982, half of his work-day has been reassigned to e spenthelping microcomputer users in the district.

He has a regular weekly schedule for working with thedifferent users, but the particular tasks vary, depending on theneeds of the users at the time. He helps with selecting soft-ware, setting up hardware, writing special-purpose programs, andteaching programming to intermediate school gifted/talentedstudents. Virtually all users interviewed mentioned him as

their main source for technical assistance.

The major change to an existing role was the addition ofsoftware coordination to the duties of the math supervisor. In

this role. she coordinates all software ordering for the dis-trict, coordinates reviews of new software and returns items shejudges to be unsatisfactory, distributes new software toappropriate users, and notifies other potential users about thelocation of new programs. At a more general level, she is the

closest thing to a "supervisor of microcomputers" that exists inthe district, although she has no official title relating tomicrocomputers. Additionally, microcomputer planning activitieshave been added to the responsibilities of all of the planninggroup members.

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PITTSBURG UNIFIED SCHOOL-, DISTRICTPittsburg, California

Case Study Report

Tom V. Hanley(SRA Technologies, Inc.)

Donald P. Horst(SRA Technologies, Inc.)

I. SUMMARY NARRATIVE AND CHRONOLOGYThe School District 201

Overview of Microcomputers Studied 202

Chronology 202

II. FEATURES OF THE MICROCOMPUTER SYSTEMIntroduction 207

Management of the Microcomputers 208

Illustrative Applications 209

CAI in High School Microcomputer Lab 209

CAI/CMI in High School Reading Lab..... 209

Individualized Instruction inAdministrative Applications 210

ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUESCentralization and Decentralization 211

Special and Regular Education Interaction 212

Administrative and Instructional Applications 213

Training 214

Emerging Roles 214

The authors are grateful to Salvatore Cardinale, Superin-tendent, for granting permission for the Pittsburg UnifiedSchool District, to participate in this study. We would alsolike to thank Dr. Mario Menesini, Assistant Superintendent, forhis help in arranging the visit and assiting the research team

on site. We are especially grateful to Don Janes, Work Experi-

ence Coordinator for Pittsburg High School, who worked closelywith us throughout the entire visit.

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I. SUMMARY NARRATIVE AND CHRONOLOGY

The School District

Pittsburg, California, is situated about 20 miles east ofOakland and Berkeley. Although Pittsburg is only a ten minutedrive from the relatively affluent towns of Concord and WalnutCreek, it is physically and psychologically isolated by a lowrange of rolling, grass-covered hills. Much of the populationis poor, with a predominance of blue-collar workers and a highproportion of unemployed.

The Pittsburg Unified School District encompasses theentire town of Pittsburg. It includes about 6,000 studentshoused in ten schools: six elementary schools, two junior highschools, one high school, and one continuation school. Thestudent population is not declining, and the schools are raci-ally mixed, with roughly one-third Italians and other Cauca-sians, one-third Blacks, one-fifth Hispanics, and one-tenthFilipinos and other Asians. Within the past ten years, Pitts-burg has been the scene of serious racial problems; now there ismuch less stress in the schools, and the staff is able toconcentrate on improving the educational programs.

School funding in Pittsburg, as in all California schools,is perceived as a serious problem by school personnel. Budgetsfor both personnel and equipment are low, and items like micro-computers are paid for by state and federal grants, and parentdonations.

Pittsburg is a small district and has a simple organiza-tional structure. There are two assistant superintendents, onefor instruction and one for personnel and business. The head ofspecial education is the director of pupil personnel, who isresponsible to the assistant superintendent for instruction.Special education personnel, serving 710 students, include 3psychologists, a social worker, 13 special day class teachers,10 resource specialists, 5 speech therapists, and 3 individualsmall group instructors. The special education classroomteachers and resource specialists have aides.

There are fourteen microcomputers used in Pittsburg forinstructional and administrative applications coordinated by ahigh school counselor. Eleven of these units are in the highschool, one is at the district office, and two are in elementaryschools. These microcomputers are the subject of this casestudy.

A separate group of microcomputers has been located in the

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Regional Occupation Program (ROP) classroom, some of them for

the past three to four years. The classroom is in the highschool, but the program is funded at the county level. SixSuperbrains, two Apple II-Plus units and a CompuPro with fiveterminals are used to teach office skills, word processing,computer literacy, and computer programming to adult and highschool students. High school computer literacy classes aretaught during the last two class periods of the day. Few spe-cial education students are involved.

-Pittsburg does not have a mainframe system of any kind.Financial and other business office computing is done via termi-nals connected to a service system outside of the district. The

terminals are operated by two persons who report to the businessmanager.

Overview of Microcomputers Studied

During the last two years, the district has acquired 14microcomputers for instructional and administrative applica-

tions. Most of these were acquired with vocational educationfunds, but two were purchased with special education funds. The

high school career counselor/work experience coordinator and thedistrict's assistant superintendent for instruction have beenthe principal forces behind the implementation of these units.The counselor/coordinator has also provided most of the trainingand technical assistance to users. In spite of the small numberof microcomputers, a wide variety of applications are in place;

including:

Computer literacy and computer programming in thehigh school career center, and elementary school.

Computer-assisted-instruction for basic skills inthe high school; in the learning lab; the homeeconomics class and elementary school.

High school attendance and other student records;

Special education records;

Computer assisted drafting (CAD).

Chronology

The use of microcomputers in Pittsburg began in the 1980-

1981 academic year. In the fall of that year, the IndustryEducation Council (IEC) placed an Apple microcomputer in a

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junior high school for use in the special education resourcerooms. The IEC is a cooperative venture between industry andeducation, with member companies providing the funding. Themain office for Northern California is in Burlingame, near SanFrancisco, but there are satelite branches in other counties.The Pittsburg assistant superintendent of instruction was thepresident of an East Contra Costa County branch in 1980-1981.He played a major role in developing the Pittsburg microcomputerproject and he has maintained a continuing interest in micro-computers for the schools.

After a year in the junior high school, the IEC Apple unitwas moved to an elementary school, where it was used by the spe-cial education resource teacher. In the spring of 1982, the IECwithdrew the Apple and placed it in another school district.The elementary special education teacher was deeply involvedwith microcomputer uses at the time, and the district specialeducation services rented another unit for him for the rest ofthe school year. In 1982-1983, an Apple Ile was purchased forhis classroom out of special education funds, although it didnot arrive until late spring.

In mid 1980-1981, the same year that the IEC program began,the high school career counselor/work experience coordinatorinstalled two terminals that were connected to the Eureka Cali-fornia Career Information System in nearby Pleasant Hill. TheEureka system was very effective and he became interested in thepotential for microcomputers in the vocational and special edu-cation programs.

During the spring and summer of 1981, the counselor/coordi-nator took a series of courses at the local junior collegecovering computers and computer programming. In the fall andwinter of the 1981-1982 school year, he worked with the assis-tant superintendent of instruction and with the head of specialeducation to obtain four microcomputers: a TRS-80 Model II foradministrative applications, plus three smaller TRS-80 Model IIIunits for instructional uses. One of the smaller microcomputerswas purchased with special education funds, while the otherswere financed through a state vocational education grant. All

four were delivered in February, 1982.

The four new microcomputers in the high school sparked aconsiderable interest among teachers and administrators. Fromspring 1982 through spring 1983, vocational education purchasedthree more microcomputers to use in a microcomputer lab, plustwo more for vocational education classrooms. Other microcompu-ters have been purchased and a larger lab with twenty new micro-computers is planned for the fall of 1983. The counselor/coor-dinator has played a central role in the purchases and hasprovided the technical support for all of these microcomputers.

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The major events in the implementation of microcomputers inthe Pittsburg Unified School District are presented in Table 1.

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TabLe 1: Chronology of Implementation Pittsburg UnifiedSchool District

DateMonth/Year Event

1980-1981 Academic Year

Sept. 1980

Dec. 1980

June 1981

1981-1982 Academic Year

Sept. 1981

Feb. 1982

May 1982

1982-1983 Academic Year

Sept. 1982

Dec. 1982

Pittsburg/IEC Apple microcompu-ter installed in a junior highspecial education resource room.

Eureka career information termi-nals installed in high schoolcareer center.

Career center counselor/coordina-tor begins taking computer courses.

Pittsburg/IEC Apple microcompu-ter moved to elementary schoolspecial education resource room.

High school gets four TRS-80's(three vocational education andone special education funded).

Pittsburg/IEC Apple microcomputerwithdrawn by IEC. Special educa-tion rents replacement. Highschool buys TRS-80 microcomputerfor the office (attendance).

Assistant superintendent for in-struction and career center coun-selor/coordinator begin to preparemultiple proposals for additionalmicrocomputers.

Vocational education buys TRS-80microcomputer for home economicsand drafting classes.

Feb. 1983

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Vocational education buys threenew Apple II units; sets up com-puter lab in library area. Specialeducation buys Apple microcomputerfor elementary school resourceroom. First district sponsoredinservice training session.

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II. FEATURES OF THE MICROCOMPUTERS

Introduction

The case study focused on the microcomputers that have beenimplemented for special education. The assistant superintendentof instruction has been a driving force behind this implementa-tion. Through his position as president of the East Contra Cos-ta County Industry Education Council (IEC), in 1980-1981, he wasable to acquire the first microcomputer for the district. Al-though that initial adoption proved unsuccessful, he subsequent-ly worked with the high school career counselor/work experiencecoordinator to foster adoption over the past two years of thecurrent microcomputers in Pittsburg. With additional supportfrom the special education director principals (especially thehigh school principal), and parent groups, 14 microcomputershave been acquired.

The microcomputers can be divided into two categories - -ad-ministrative and instructionalwhich have existed in parallelSince the first four microcomputers were purchased (winter of1981-82).

Administrative Microcomputers. There are three microcompu-ters in this group, all TRS-80 Model II units. They are to keeprecords and maintain budgets.

The career center microcomputer occupies a very small,glassed-in office in the career center, and is use' by thecareer counselor/coordinator and his advanced computer studentsfor keeping statistics on vocational and special education stu-dents. A master file of every student in the high school,usable for lists such as mailing lists, is kept on one disk andincludes information on special educational status, vocationaleducation programs, and minimum-competency-test scores. Equip-ment inventories and budgets are kept on other disks.

The attendance microcomputer is in a room off of the mainoffice in the high school. It was bought in May 1982, the onlymicrocomputer in the high school to be purchased with schoolfunds. The counselor/coordinator worked with a computer consul-tant to set up an attendance program and it is now used daily bytwo secretaries in the office to enter all absent and tardy re-ports. The microcomputer can produce a variety of records onindividual students or groups of students, and can show atten-dance by day or by class period.

The ESEA microcomputer was purchased under an ESEA grantfor administrative purposes. It is used to prepare a file of

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all special education students, and the district is consideringusing it to develop IEPs. The counselor/coordinator set up thefile using the Profile software program.

Instructional Microcomputers. The instructional microcom-puters are divided into those in a "lab" and those in individualclassrooms. The computer lab in the library area has threeApple IIe units and three TRS-80 Model III units, equipped withsingle disk drives and two dot matrix printers. The microcom-puters are used by vocational and special education students forlearning basic skills, and by the career center counselor/coor-dinator's advanced computer students, who serve as student aidesand develop software for use by the teachers. Four of the sixmicrocomputers were recently purchased; two had been in thecareer center since February 1982.

All but one of the five microcomputers in the individualclassrooms are new, and applications are still being developed.The TRS-80 Model III located in a corner of the high schoolreading lab was purchased in February 1982, and has been usedfor reading and language instruction. The remaining four areused in computer-assisted-instruction in the following areas:

a home economics classroom, used to teach weightsand measures and give tests;

a drafting room used for computer assisted drafting;

an elementary special education classroom forteaching basic skills and programming; and

an elementary gifted/ta,nted classroom used forcomputer literacy.

Management of the Microcomputers

The microcomputers in Pittsburg have been purchased withvocational education or special education funds, and the funding

source is the primary determinant of how they are allocated.There are no formal procedures for purchase, allocation, or useof microcomputers set up in the district; management of thesystem falls into the hands of four key people. The assistantsuperintendent for curriculum and the director of pupil person-nel authorize purchases for the microcomputers. In addition,the assistant superintendent for curriculum assists in develop-ing new microcomputer applications in the district. The princi-pal of the high school also participates in approving purchases.The career counselor/work experience coordinator operates as aninformal technical support person for all microcomputer

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applications and makes most of the day-to-day decisions re-garding their use. Although he has no time allocated specifi-cally to microcomputer administration, he provides training toteachers, assists in identifying, acquiring, and developingsoftware for the various applications. There are no formalprocedures for software accession, use, or coordination in thedistrict.

Illustrative Applications

To provide an idea of how the microcomputers are being usedin the Pittsburg schools, three illustrative applications aredescribed below.

CAI in High School Microcomputer Lab. The microcomputerlab is one of several rooms adjoining the high school library.It is as large as a classroom but is irregular in shape andshares the high, cathedral ceilings of the main library room. A

folding wall is more than half open, but serves to divide theroom lengthwise into two long, narrow areas. The door from thelibrary opens into an area that is used to Store a number ofpieces of AV equipment and other items.

To the right, beyond the half-open sliding wall, six micro-computers and two printers are arranged on tables placed againstthe longest wall. Three of i'e microcomputers are Apple Ileunits and the other three are TRS-80 Model III units.

Two groups of special education students (12 in all) areworking at the microcomputers. A teacher and a student aide(from the high school "special projects" computer class) areworking with each group. An adult aide is also working with oneof the groups.

The learning disabilities group is working with the Applemicrocomputers, learning to use LOGO to draw geometric figureson the screen. They have just begun to learn to use LOGO, andmost can only copy sample programs from the manual. The studentaides help them with problems and demonstrate how to do otherthings with the LOGO turtle. The second group is working withthe TRS-80 microcomputer, using instructional programs fordeveloping reading; language, and math skills.

CAI and CMI in a High School Reading Lab. The reading 13bprovides a regular elective course for any students who arehaving trouble passing the state-mandated competency tests, whowant to brush up for the military ASVAB test, or who just feelthat they need to improve their reading skills. Some specialeducation students take the course, but many of the students arenot in any special program. The course is offered five periods

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per day, with 15 students each period.

The lab is housed in a regular classroom, but it is distin-guished by a collection of carrels anc ". small tables that replacethe normal classroom desks. A number of bookshelves filled withreading materials divide the room into two main sections.

The miL.L,,,,mputcr, is on a 4-zhi= in an attractively decora-

ted front corner of the room. Each student is required to workat the microcomputer for a set period every week. The computerwork-counts toward their grade, and students must log in to showthat they have met their obligation. The teacher says that,actually, the microcomputer is a real incentive for thestudents, and the student at the microcomputer agrees. Students

who complete their regular work can get extra time on themicrocomputer and are encouraged to do so.

In addition to the instructional programs, the teacher alsomakes use of a program for determining the reading level of textbooks. Not only does she use it for her own classes, she alsoprovides a service to other teachers, computing reading levelratings for texts and other materials that they submit to her.

Individualized Instruction in Administrative Applications.The administrative microcomputer is used mainly by the highschool's career counselor/work experience coordinator, who is in

charge of the career center. He is also responsible for a "spe-ciaL projects" computer class (an individualized class foradvanced computer students), and some of his students use thismicrocomputer to develop new administrative appiications. Some

have also learned word processing and are using the microcompu-

ter to prepare scholarship applications.

The microcomputer was originally purchased in 1'ebruary 1982

to keep records for the vocational education and career counsel-ing programs in the high school. The counselor/coordinator'sprevious background in special education (he was a special edu-cation teacher) ensures that the needs of handicapped studentsare met in the vocational pr-grams. The vocational educationfiles include over half of the 1,500 students in the high schooland store several dozen items of information on each student- -

from courses taken, to ethnicity and vaccination records. Other

files are maintained for budgets and equipment and inventories.A master file of all students in the school is maintained on asingle disk, and includes names, grade levels, and state compe-

,.en7y test records.

The benefits of this program are two-fold. Administrativefunctions in the high school--especially vocational education,special education, and counseling records, reports, and plan-ning--are improved through this automation. Second, the ad-vanced students learn to use the microcomputers in real-life

situations. The applications depend on their knowledge andexpertise with the software.

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III. ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES

Centralization and Decentralization

The degree of centralization/decentralization of the micro-computers is based on several characteristics: the initialdecision to adopt, the decision to assign and locate the micro-computers, the degree of coordination in using the microcompu-ters, and the organization of the software resources. The useof microcomputers in Pittsburg has both centralized and decen-tralized features which vary depending on the application beingaddressed.

The initial impetus for use of microcomputers came from theassistant superintendent of curriculum, who was responsible forintroducing the first microcomputer into a junior high schoolspecial education classroom. The first attempt did not provesuccessful and the microcomputer was withdrawn. He then redi-rected his efforts to supporting the career counselor/coordina-tor, who was simultaneously attempting to use computer applica-tions to improve instructional and career guidance programs atthe high school. Although the initial decision to adopt may besaid to have been decentralized, district support for purchasingand development of applications was provided.

Initiative for the other applications came from a ParentTeachers Organization and individual teachers: for purchasingmicrocomputers and implementing applications in the elementarygifted/talented program and in the high school reading lab.

At the district office, the assistant superintendent forcurriculum and the director of pupil personnel services (specialeducation) approve funds for microcomputer purchases. Thecounselor/coordinator reports directly to the high school prin-cipal, who has also provided funds for purchases.

Allocation decisions are based largely on the source offunding used in microcomputer purchases -- voc-ed funds for voc-ed computers, special education for special education microcom-puters; etc. Within this general constraint, allocation is alsodetermined by the specific need and interests of the administra-tors and users. This process is assisted by informal planningand "propagandizing" by the assistant superintendent, the highschool principal, and the career center counselor/coordinator.They jointly reach decisions about which program areas wouldbenefit from microcomputer use. The counselor/coordinator thenidentifies teachers that would be interested in using the equip-ment and provides them with preliminary training and orienta-tion, before the microcomputer is acquired. Then the unit is

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placed where the teacher who is most committed, or has the bestplans, can use it.

Although no formal coordination procedures are in place,the counselor/coordinator assists a variety of users in the highschool, in both administrative and instructional applications.He meets regularly with the district assistant superintendent toplan future microcomputer approaches, as well as other innova-tive programs for the district. He also assists the districtspecial education director in developing administrative applica-tions on the microcomputer placed in the district offices. Thehigh school principal has full authority over the allocation anduse of microcomputers in the high school. He often discussesand plans allocation and use of microcomputers in the highschool with the counselor/coordinator. Ultimately, however, theactual day-to-day use of the microcomputers, especially in in-structional applications, is determined by the teachers.

There are no formal procedures for software acquisition,use, or coordination. The counselor/coordinator is most know-ledgeable about software (all district-received mail relating tosoftware is automatically routed to his mailbox) and he advisesusers on selection of software. He also shares his softwarewith others and modifies or produces custom software for users.Based on his recommendations, individual users may purchasesoftware with local building funds, district funds, specialeducation funds, or any other money (e.g., high school BINGO andbooster club money) that is immediately available. There is nocentralized "library" of software, but the counselor/coordinatorknows where most software is held, and borrows or shares soft-ware (including his own) among users.

SRecial and Regular Education Interaction

From the beginning of the high school microcomputerapplications, collaboration between special and regulareducators was intended. A serendipitous factor in thiscollaboration is the fact that the counselor/coordinator was aformer special education teacher. Even before the introductionof microcomputers, the career center services had a strong focuson the needs of handicapped students. The collaboration,however, is limited to shared use of the equipment and to someteachers (e.g., home economics, reading lab) using the microcom-puter with both special and regular education students.

The major benefit of shared usage of the equipment (espe-cially in the learning lab) is the availability of more hard-ware/software for both groups of users. Special education stu-dents in the high school are highly mainstreamed. The regulareducation programs that use microcomputers are open to both

regular and special education students. In such cases, the dif-

ferences in applications between students is transparent.

Administrative and Instructional Applications

The initial adoption of the one IEC microcomputer wasintended solely for instructional use in a junior high schoolspecial education class. This adoption was not successful andthe subsequent adoption.and growth of microcomputers in the highschool was implemented with an intended mix of both admini-strative and instructional applications. Thus, the first fourmicrocomputers purchased by the district were acquired, at theoutset, for both administrative and instructional uses. Threeof the four microcomputers were smaller TRS-80 Model III units,selected for instructional applications. The fourth was alarger TRS-80 Model II selected for administrative applications.

In later purchases, some microcomputers were pre-planned tobe allocated to classrooms or the learning lab; others werescheduled for placement in the career center or in offices. Foradministrative applications, only TRS-80 Model II units havebeen purchased, so software that runs on one will run on all.All other available funds to purchase software (estimated to be$1,500 - 2,000) have been spent on instructional software.

There are no formal district policies or procedures forcoordinating instructional and administrative applications.However, with one exception, the microcomputers are all specifi-cally designated for either instructional or adminitrative use;not both. The exception is a TRS-80 Model II in the career cen-ter office. This unit is used for administrative applicationsand for instructional use. The instructional applications on itconsist of computer literacy and computer programming foradvanced students in the high school. The counselor/coordinatormanages this shared usage and it has been very effective. Infact, both applications benefit from the interaction:

The students learn computer operations in a real-istic environment; their "lessons" include dataentry and report preparation of real data andreports that are used by high school and districtadministrators. Based on this experience, thecounselor/coordinator has been able to place somestudents in computer-related jobs.

The administrative functions benefit from thestudent "labor;" more reports can be generatedwith better turn-around time. (Students do re-ceive some payment for their participation,through a vocational education grant program.)

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Training

Very little formal or group training on microcomputers hasbeen provided by the district. During the initial IEC micro-computer implementation, an outside consultant provided a work-shop for junior high school special education teachers. Shortlythereafter, the junior high school special education teacher whoreceived the IEC microcomputer also presented some training toother teachers. Both of these initial efforts, however, con-centrated on computer programming and were not well received bythe teachers.

In the last two years, the high school counselor/coordina-tor has provided individualized training and technical assis-tance to new users. The counselor/coordinator, himself, isessentially self-taught regarding microcomputers, although hedid take some college courses in the summer of 1981 on computerprogramming.

In February 1983, the first district-wide inservicetraining session was offered. The counselor/coordinator pre-sented a four-hour introductory workshop to 20 teachers. Theseincluded teachers who were just receiving their microcomputers.The district is planning similar inservice training for fall1983, when 20 new microcomputers will be acquired and placed in

a new computer lab in the high school.

Emerging Roles

No new staff positions related to microcomputers have beenestablished in the Pittsburg school district. One person, thehigh school career counselor/work experience coordinator, is,

however, the de facto coordinator for microcomputer applica-tions. He has assumed this role on the basis of his recognizedexpertise and enthusiasm for microcomputer implementation in

education.

In addition to his official roles as career counselor/coor-dinator and his unoffical role as microcomputer specialist, healso provides other services in the district. He works closelywith the assistant superintendent for instruction and the highschool principal to plan and develop special projects. One ofthese, for example, is MESA--Mathematics, Engineering, andScience Achievement. This is a state-supported, opportunityprogram for talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds.He also coordinates vocational education programs in the highschool and, when time allows, works individually with students.

As a counselor/coordinator, he is able to schedule his owntime in the high school. He uses some of his time to provide

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training and technical assistance to microcomputer users, tooffer individualized instruction in computer literacy and pro-gramming, to counsel students, and to fulfill many other voca-tional education and counseling responsibilities. Both theassistant superintendent and the high school principal relyheavily on his assistance in these areas.

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PRESCOTT UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT NUMBER ONEPrescott, Arizona

Case Study Report

J. Lynne White(COSMOS Corporation)

Donald P. Horst(SRA Technologies, Inc.)

I. SUMMARY NARRATIVE AND CHRONOLOGYThe School District 219Overview of Microcomputers Studied 220

Chronology 221

II. FEATURES OF THE MICROCOMPUTERSIntroduction 226Management of the Microcomputers 227

Illustrative Applications 228Seventh Grade Computer Literacy 228

CAI in Special Education Resource Room 229

III. ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUESCentralization and Decentralization 230Special and Regular Education Interaction ..... 232Administrative and Instructional Applications, 233

Training 234

Emerging Roles 235

Ti' authors are grateful to Dr. Ken Walker, Superintendent,for granting permission for Prescott Unified School District toparticipate in the study. We would like to thank BruceEldredge, Computer Coordinator, for arranging the visit andassisting the research team on site. We also appreciate themany staff people and teachers who met with us and gavegenerously of their time to make our efforts successful.

The School District

The Prescott Unified School District encompasses the srural, western community of Prescott in the central part ofArizona. Known as the "Retirement City of the North," Preshas a _.Didential population of approximately 20,000. Therno industry within the area, so the major sources of employare the Veteran's Hospital and the school system. Prescotthistory as a gold mining town makes summer tourism anothereconomic resource for its residents.

The school district has eight school sites: five elemeschools (K-6), two junior high schools (7-9), and one highschool (8-12). The central administration building is situin the center of town, while the schools are scattered alonouts}irts. Approximately 4,470 students attend the Prescotschools. The ethnic composition is 80 percent White, 12 peHispanic, and 2 percent Black and Asian.

The special education program in the district serves a450 students which includes those with sight and hearing imments, learning disabilities, and emotional and physical hacaps. Presently, there are 27 special education teachers iPrescott schools. This represents a dramatic increase fromteachers ten years ago. In addition to the special educatiteachers, there are 3 psychologists, 2 speech therapists, aphysical therapist. One of the psychologists also acts ascoordinator of special education for the district on a partbasis. He is responsible for special education programactivities and provides overall supervision for the specialeducation teachers (building principals are their immediatesupervisors). The coordinator reports to the assistantsuperintendent of educational services who is responsible fall the instructional programs and personnel in the districAs one of two assistant superintendents, he is directlyresponsible to the Superintendent.

Special education students, as well as all other studEin the district have access to approximately 300 Commodoremicrocomputers at all grade levels for computer literacycourses, computer-assisted instruction, and programming. 1

Special Education/Vocational Education program has an Applemicrocomputer for a vocational diagnostic project with thejunior and high school special education students. The diEadministration uses an IBM System 34 minicomputer system fcaccounting, budgets, payroll, student records, and otherbusiness functions.

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220

Overview of Microcomputers Studied

The approximately 300 Commodore PET microcomputers inPrescott are used for a variety of instructional andadministrative applications. Examples of microcomputer use are:

Special education students in resource roomsreceive computer-assisted instruction in aca-demic areas, such as math and spelling; micro-computer software is also used to foster eye-hand coordination.

At the high schocl, computer science courses in-

clude introduction to computer operationsand BASIC programming. The skills taught includeflowcharting, documentation, problem-solving, and

writing "readable" programs.

The gifted /tai=nted students in the 4th-12th gradesuse microcomputers to learn programming in BASIC

language. Students have written programs to calcu-late the perimeter of a triangle and the area of asquare.

In the junior high school, science students are usinga microcomputer to control the en,,ironment to stimu-

late the growth of a tree as part of a research pro-ject.

At the elementary level, all 4th, 5th, and 6th gradestudents receive two weeks of computer literacy in-struction on the microcomputers. In addition to"hands-on" experience, students discuss the historyof computer development and the computer's impact on

society.

The Chapter 1 Reading Labs are equipped with micro-computers for computer-assisted instruction in read-ing, grammar, and spelling skills.

All of the elethentary and junior high schools usemicrocomputers equipped with small, mark-sense cardreaders to score and process the district developedContinuous Uniform Evaluation System (CUES) tests.

Administrative uses of a microcomputer in one of thejunior high schools includes attendance, grade re-ports, class scheduling, equipment inventories, andmailing labels.

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221

Chronology

In the fall of 1978, a committee composed of the directorof several federal projects, two secondary computer scienceteachers, and a fourth grade teacher, decided to write aproposal for an elementary/junior high computer literacyproject. Prior to that time, district offered limitedinstruction in computer programming for secondary gifted/ -talented, students with terminals connected to the localcollege's mainframe computer system. Microcomputer use waslimited to one TRS-80 unit bought by the fourth grade teacherfor instructional applications in his classroom.

With funding from the ESEA Title I'T -C grant, the first 40Commodore PET microcomputers were purchased in July 1979.Project funds also supported the development of a computerliteracy curriculum to be piloted in the fourth grade. Thecurriculum encompassed four areas of computer literacy--thehistory of computers, career exploration, the social impact ofcomputers, and basic programming. The computer literacycurriculum also served as the basis for the first teachertraining course offered at the local community college later inthe summer. The course was aimed at preparing the elementaryschool teachers to teach computer literacy.

In the fall of 1979, a computer lab for computer literacyclasses and some programming was established at the junior highschool. At the elementary level, two groups of ten micro-computers were rotated to each of the schools for six weeks forcomputer literacy classes with the fourth grade students. In

January 1980, the computer literacy curriculum was expanded to

include the fifth grade students.

In the summer of 1980, the district allocated funds for thepurchase of ten Commodore PET microcomputers. This purchasesignaled the beginning of the district's finar-dal support ofthe microcomputer program. The Superintendent stated that thedistrict had a history of taking innovative programs that hadreceived external funding, and then continuing to support themas viable and on-going parts of the district's curriculum. Thedistrict also began to fund a part-time microcomputer positionwhen funding for the federal project director's role was ending.

Beginning in the fall of 1980, an advanced inservice coursewas offered for teachers to learn more advanced programmingtechniques. The focus of the course was on developing computer-assisted instruction programs for use in the elementary andjunior high schools. About a third of the teachers who took the

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introductory course went on to take the advanced course. Over200 of the 270 teachers in the district have taken theintroductory inservice that runs 16 weeks, with two hours oflecture and two hours of lab per week.

In addition, a computer literacy course based on theelementary school curriculum was offered to community members in

September 1980. The course has been given four times and atotal of 240 participants have attended the sessions.

-During the 1981-1982 academic year, the district purchased40 Commodore PET microcomputers with local and special educationfunds. The computer literacy curriculum was revised to includecourses for the sixth and seventh grade students. Microcomputerunits were rotated less among schools, with units beingallocated to individual classrooms or computer labs withinsites. The Commodore PETs purchased with special educationfunds were assigned to resource rooms in the elementary schools.Use of the microcomputers began to expand to include computer-assisted instruction at the elementary level and more program-ming in the secondary schools.

In the summer of 1982, the computer coordinator organized apaid working group of teachers and high school students to do asystematic review of software programs. The ultimate productwas a catalog of recommended programs with brief descriptionsand outlined instructional objectives. The distribution of theprinted software catalog, in January 1983, coincided with theestablishment of software libraries in each elementary school.

The district continued to make additional purchases ofmicrocomputers--70 Commodore PET units in September 1982 and 16

Commodore PETs in February 1983. In January 1983, a pilot basicskills computer lab with 31 of the microcomputers was esta-blished in an elementary school.

The major events in the implementation of microcomputers inthe Prescott school district are presented in Table 1.

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Table 1: Chronology of Implementation Prescott SchoolDistrict

DateMonth-Year Event

1978-1979 Academic Year

Sept. 1978 Feasibility study conductedof computer use in district.

Sept. 1978 Elementary teacher bringsown TSR-80 microcomputerinto class7oom.

Jan. 1979 Steering committee formedfor Computer Literacy.

Jan. 1979 Proposal submitted for TitleIV-C Computer Literacy Pro-ject.

April 1979 Title IV-C Computer LiteracyProject funded.

July 1979

Summer 1979

Aug. 1979

1979-1980 Academic Year

Fall 1979

Oct. 1979

215

Purchased first 40 Commo-dores (30-Title IV-C funds,10 Voc Ed funds.)

Developed curriculum for 4thgrade computer literacycourse, teacher training,and jr. high schoolclass.

First 16 week teachertraining course offered atlocal community college.

Inservice workshops on com-puters held for district'steachers.

First taught 4th grade com-puter literacy and gifted/ -talented jr. high and highschool programming course.

224

Jan. 1980 Taught computer literacy in4th and 5th grades.

Summer 1980 Furcher developed 4th gradecomputer literacy curriculumand added 5th grade section.

July 1980 Purchased 10 Commodores withdistrict funds.

Summer 1980

1980-1981 Academic Year

Sept. 1980

Sept. 1980

Oct. 1980

June 1981

June 1981

Summer 1981

1981-1982 Academic Year

Sept. 1981

Offered summer school for7th, 8th, & 9th gradestudents in computers withCareer Education Grant.

Federal project directorbecame computer literacyproject director.

First advanced teachertraining and district patroncomputer course offered atlocal community college.

Held statewide mini-con-ference on the MicrocomputerLiteracy Project.

Purchased 40 Commodores withdistrict and local specialeducation funds.

District funded part-timemicrocomputer coordinatorposition.

Revised computer literacycurricula and developed 6thgrade computer literacycourse.

Microcomputers placed intospecial education resourcerooms.

March 1982 Developed five-year plan for

216

computer projects in Cis-trict.

June 1982 Purchased 31 Commodores withTitle IV-C funds.

Summer 1982 Software evaluation com-mittee formed to reviewprograms.

1982-1983 Academic Year

Sept. 1982 Purchased 70 Commodores withdistrict funds.

Sept. 1982

Jan. 1983

Jan. 1983

Feb. 1983

March 1983

Articulation meeting heldwith local communitycollege.

Set up pilot basic skillscomputer lab in elementaryschool with 31 Commodores.

Printed software catalogueand organized softwarelibraries in each school.

Purchased 16 Commodores withdistrict funds.

Microcumputers allocated tosix Chapter 1 Reading Labs.

21 7'

226

II. FEATURES OF THE MICnOCOMPUTERS

Introduction

Presently, there are approximately 300 Commodore PETmicrocomputers in the Prescott school district. The majority ofthese units are equipped with cassette players. However, thereare some microcomputers with disk drives and printers in theschools and in the district office. Four of the five elementaryschools have approximately 20-30 microcomputers with 2 or 3

units assigned to individual classrooms. The other elementaryschool has a basic skills computer room with 31 Commodore PETunits networked together.

When computer literacy classes are being taught in theelementary schools (about half the school year), all themicrocomputers in a school are moved together to create acomputer literacy lab. The remainder of the school year, theprincipal and teachers at each school decide where to locate the

units. Allocation decisions receive final approval from thecoordinator of computer education. He is often involved inmoving the microcomputers and seeing that.they are set upproperly after a move..

In the past, sets of 10 or 12 microcomputers were trans-ported from one elementary school to another for the computerliteracy classes. Now that is not necessary, since everyelementary school has enough units for its computer literacyneeds.

The two junior high schools have computer science labs with15-20 microcomputers in each one. In addition to the labs,microcomputers are located in various classrooms or departmentsfor use by individual teachers with students. In one of thejunior high schools, the office has a microcomputer foradministrative functions. The total number of microcomputers is

approximately 35 in each junior high school.

The high school has a similar distribution pattern formicrocomputers. There are two computer science labs with 15microcomputers in each and approximately 12 units distributed inclassrooms and departments throughout the school.

The special education resource rooms and the Chapter Ireading labs in all the schools have been allocatedmicrocomputers on a permanent basis. The coordinator ofcomputer education has two Commodore PET units in his office forreviewing and cataloging software and for some other minoradministrative tasks.

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227

Within the individual classrooms, microcomputers areusually placed in a corner or to the side of a room to beseparated from other classroom activities. It is entirely up tothe teachers to arrange and use the microcomputers as they wish.The coordinator of computer education, along with otherteachers, is available for assistance and support in theutilization of the microcomputers.

The microcomputers allocated to the elementary schools areused-primarily for computer literacy courses and computer-assisted instruction in individual classrooms. The two-weekcomputer literacy courses for all the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7thgrade students utilize the "lab" microcomputers full-time forapproximately half of each school year. The microcomputerslocated in classrooms, including resource rooms and readinglabs, are in use by students about 70 percent of each schoolday. The junior high schools and high school computer labs arescheduled for use all during the day for either computerliteracy or programming classes. Microcomputers located in thesecondary classrooms or departments also are used on a constantbasis by individual students for drill and practice and skillreinforcement.

Management of the Microcomputers

The microcomputers were originally coordinated and managedby the Title IV-C project director with the assistance of theother three members of the proposal-writing committee. Aftertwo years, the project director left the district and one of thecommittee members was appointed half-time computer directorwhile continuing to teach computer literacy half-time. Thecomputer director serves as the major curriculum and technicalsupport person for the entire computer program and a majordriving force in its growth and expansion in the district.

Basically, all the microcomputers are considered to belongto the district rather than to individual teachers or schools,except those allocated to Chapter I reading labs or specialeducation resource rooms. The computer director is responsiblefor all purchasing. This is currently accomplished withdistrict funds for bulk orders of Commodore PET microcomputers.The computer director also decides on the allocation of theequipment to buildings. Principals and teachers may, however,decide on their actual locations withing the schools.

Requests for new microcomputers are initiated by teachersand coordinated by the computer director. Because of budgetconstraints, not all requests can be met, and the computerdirector decides on which request will have highest priority.

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228

The computer director is also responsible for all training andmaintenance in the system.

The computer director coordinates all software orders and

distribution. Requests may come from teachers or the computer

director may order items himself. Usually he screens newprograms briefly and then asks others to review the programsmore in depth. One copy of each program is kept in a master

collection in the computer dirEctor's office. Additional copies

are distributed to the schools as appropriate.

Illustrative Applications

To provide an idea of how the microcomputers are being usedin the Prescott schools, two illustrative applications aredescribed below.

Seventh Grade Computer Literacy. An 18-week computerliteracy course for seventh graders is designed to familiarizethe student with the operation of the microcomputer. It also

entails the study of the computer's impact on society and thecareers available in the area of computers.

All seventh graders are required to take the semestercourse in computer literacy with the option then of taking an

elective computer science course in the eighth and ninth grades.Students use computer labs in both junior high schools, equipped

with 14-15 Commodore PET microcomputers, for the "hands-on"portion of the course.

Prior to using the microcomputers, students discuss thevarious applications and uses of computers including information

managment, graphics, telecommunications, word processing, and

instruction. One week is spent on the study of the historicaldevelopment of computers. A "current events" approach is used

to discuss the social ramifications of computer uses on society.

The text for the course is Are You a Computer Literate? by Karen

Billings. This is supplemented with additional articles and

readings.

The second half of the course focuses on computerprogramming in BASIC and skills such as flowcharting andproblem-solving. Besides learning programming skills, students

are taught the use of tables, arrays, and sorting; the use of

peripheral devices (printer, disk drives); and the use ofmachine memory (PEEK/POKE). Each student is expected to usethese skills for an independent project in developing a computergame or graphic demonstration. Part of the project assignment

includes exploring potential markets for the programs.

229

Computer-Assisted Instruction in Special Education ResourceRoom. Microcomputers are being used in the elementary schoolresource rooms to provide special education students withcomputer-assisted instruction. Each resource room is equippedwith one Commodore PET unit with cassette drive and anassortment of 20 program tapes. The programs are used toreinforce basic skills, such as mathematics and spelling, and todevelop visual motor and eye-hand coordination skills.According to one special education teacher, the microcomputer islike-having an extra aide in the classroom. "The computer cankeep several students busy and that allows us time toconcentrate on working with one or two students."

A sample program that elementary students use on themicrocomputer is one called "drag racing." Students arepresented with multiplication problems that vary in terms of

difficulty. Correctly answering the problem moves an animatedcar along a race track. Incorrect answers prevent the car fromreaching the finish line.

Usually students work individually at the microcomputerwith the assistance of a teacher's aide. The aides areresponsible for teaching each student basic computer operationsand selecting programs that correspond with student's learningobjectives. With 20 students scheduled into a resource roomduring the day, each student has approximately one hour ofmicrocomputer time each week.

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230

III. ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES

Centralization and Decentralization

In Prescott, the administration and support of themicrocomputers is highly centralized, although much of theactual use in the classrooms is left to the individual classroomteachers.

The initial microcomputers were part of a single Title IV-Cproject, to teach computer literacy in elementary and junior

high schools. From that beginning, both the number andapplications of the microcomputers expanded rapidly, under the

guidance of the Superintendent's office and the original IV-C

project staff. The directorship of toat project (which changedhands after two years) has evolved into a formal, district-levelposition as coordinator of computer education. The centralizedfunctions, directed by this coordinator, include:

Hardware purchasing: All orders are initiated byteachers, but the coordinator sets priorities onorders and makes the purchases. This has enabledthe district to limit itself to one standard brandof microcomputer.

Allocation of hardware: The coordinator's policyis that all microcomputers belong to the districtrather than to individual teachers or buildings.The microcomputers are rotated a great deal, bothwithin buildings and between buildings to meet theneeds of all the different users. However, somemicrocomputers are, in effect, permanently assignedto specific teachers, because the teachers makeconstant use of them. Then too, as the districtacquires more microcomputers, less rotation is re-

quired.

Software ordering, screening, reviewing, and distri-bution: Virtually all software purchases are coordi-nated by the coordinator of computer education. He

personally screens many of the new programs when theyarrive in the district, and requests reviews from

others. In the summer of 1982, he organized a paid

task force to review software, and he hopes to repeatthis regularly. He also coordinates the distributionof new software to the different teachers and librar-

ies in the district.

231

Teacher training: Formal inservice training for teach-ers is an important part of the Prescott program, andthis training is conducted or organized by the coordi-nator.

Curriculum planning and development for computer liter-acy and computer science: The curriculum for the ori-ginal computer literacy project has evolved in the pastfour years to include grades four through seven. Thisevolution is expected to continue under the supervisionof the coordinator and other personnel, and eventuallyit should cover all grades (K-12).

Test scoring and data processing: Prescott has testingprocedures to measure achievement and attainment of dis-trict instructional objectives. In the past, scoringhas been done by an outside service, and data processinghas been done on the district's minicomputer system.The coordinator has developed an operational prototypesystem for the microcomputers that will score tests andprocess data. This new system will probably be usedthroughout the district.

The decentralized functions include all instructional usesof microcomputers outside of the district's computer literacycourses. All teachers are trained to select and operatesoftware packages, and, to a large extent, they choose what theywant from among the packages available in the district.Specifically, each special education teacher decides what useswill be made of the microcomputers.

Hardware, software, and curriculum support for the teachersis provided by the coordinator of computer education to theextent that he can find time. However, much of the currentsupport comes from informal networks or individual teacherswithin the different schools. Teachers with the most experienceand interest help those who are just beginning to use themicrocomputers, so that much of the day-to-day support isdecentralized.

Because of the widespread availability of themicrocomputers, the teachers, school building administrators,and district administrators are beginning to realize thepotential administrative uses of the microcomputers. At thispoint, the development of these administrative applications islargely decentralized.

The administration (and specifically the coordinator ofcomputer education) is well aware of the trade-offs between

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232

centralization and decentralization. The policy is to provi(centralized support for the teachers, and the support systembeing developed as rapidly as time and resources will permit

At the same time, the philosophy is to give the teachers a gdeal of independence in actually using the microcomputers in

their classroom.

The goal of the coordinator is to increase supportsubstantially in four areas: (a) providing additional train

programs for teachers and administrators, (b) creating worksand seminars for microcomputer users to share experiences anideas, (c) reviewing new software on a regular, formal basisand (d) developing newsletters and other methods forcommunicating with users on a regular basis.

The role of the district's minicomputer system should abe considered in relation to the centralization-decentralizaissue. In Prescott, the minicomputer system was purchased aabout the same time as the first microcomputers were introdu

into the district. The division of roles between the two ty

of computers had been established by a needs assessmentcommittee headed by the assistant superintendent for busineswho is in charge of the minicomputer system. This committee

decided that all instructional applications should employmicrocomputers, and that the minicomputer should be reserved

business uses. The assistant superintendent for businesscontinues to hold this position, and supports thedecentralization of the test scoring and processing as well.However, he points out the need for careful planning andcoordination to prevent the inefficiencies that can occur wthighly similar data bases are maintained separately in each

school.

Special and Regular Education Interaction

Collaboration between special and regular education isextremely informal, and depends almost entirely on therelationships between the specific teachers involved. With

exception, the special education teachers have become involl

in the microcomputer system relatively late (at the start o:third year, fall 1981), and they use the microcomputers forcomputer-assisted instruction, a relatively low priority in

Prescott.

There was no specific plan for collaboration between tspecial and regular education users of the microcomputers.of the special education teachers took the early inservicetraining, and they have added microcomputers to the varietyother resources in their resource rooms. Purchasing, set u

and maintenance were handled by the coordinator of computer

233

education, along will all other microcomputer applications inPrescott (except for the new Special Education/VocationalEducation diagnostic system that will use Apple microcomputersrather than the district-standard Commodore units.)

In practice, many of the special education teachers workclosely with the regular classroom teachers in schedulingmicrocomputer lessons, just as they have always done when usingother teaching methods. The special education teachers discussthe needs of their mainstreamed students with the regularclassroom teachers and try to give the students practice in theskills they need for their course work. Specifically, they tryto give the special education students drills on classroomspelling words and arithmetic skills.

Administrative and Instructional Applications

The original needs-assessment committee recommended thatmicrocomputers be used for instructional purposes, while theminicomputer was to be used for the district administrativeneeds. Initially, this division was strictly maintained and allmicrocomputer uses originally instructional. As teachers andadministrators gained familiarity with the capabilities ofmicrocomputers, they have become interested in computerizing anumber of tasks that have been done manually in the past. Oneof the major examples is in the Special Education/VocationalEducation program. This program provides vocational trainingfor special education students. It operates at one of thejunior high schools, with junior high and high school students.The program has a Commodore PET microcomputer that is used forcomputer-assisted instruction in vocational training, but it isalso being used now to create local norms for special educationstudents.

In addition, Special Education/Vocational Education iscurrently developing a system of diagnostic programs for thespecial education students,using an Apple microcomputer. Thediagnostic programs are part of a pilot project being conductedwith the University of Arizona. This application is unique andis separate from other microcomputer uses in the district.

Other tasks are now being transferred to the microcompu-ters. A major example is the scoring and processing of the CUEStests. These are tests of the local instructional objectives,given twice a year. Arizona requires such a system, but thesystems are locally developed. In the past, scoring was done inPhoenix, and data analysis was done on the district'sminicomputer. Recently, the coordinator of computer educationpurchased several small mark-sense card readers and hasdeveloped programs to score the tests. The programs are being

22.E

234

pilot tested now and are planned for implementation in the fall

of 1983.

There is also considerable interest in transfering atten-dance and scheduling functions to the microcomputers. The

interest is in improving turnaround time and control over thetasks, but it is not clear how soon, if at all, the software canbe obtained (or developed).

Finally, virtually all teachers who have made extensiveinstructional uses of the microcomputers are also interested in

using the microcomputers for classroom management functions.Again, the problem is finding time for the coordinator or otherinterested personnel to locate or develop appropriate software,and to provide the training that the teachers will require.

In the meantime, the instructional uses of themicrocomputers are continuing to expand. Microcomputer uses arealso well established in special education programs, withcomputer science for gifted/talented students andcomputer-assisted instruction for special education anddisadvantaged students. The computer literacy curriculum is now

available for fourth through seventh grades, and computerscience classes are being implemented for eighth and ninth grade

students. The high school computer science ccurse is well

established, and there are long range plans to produce anintegrated curriculum for all grades (K-12).

Training

The training program is a key feature of Prescott'sapproach to microcomputers. The major training course has beenthe introductory inservice course given twice a year since thebeginning of the microcomputer project. The course is aimed at

computer literacy and at preparing the elementary schoolteachers to teach the computer literacy course. The course is

voluntary, but salary increment credits are given, and the local

college gives course credit to the teachers. Over 200 of the

270 teachers in the district have taken the course, and more aresigned up for future sessions.

Beginning in the second year of implementation (fall 1980)

an advanced inservice course has been offered once or twice a

year for teachers who want to learn more advanced programming.

The focus is on developing computer-assisted instructionprograms. About four or five teachers out of each introductory

course have proceeded to the advanced course, and it has been

given three times.

Also beginning in the second year, a literacy course based

235

on the elementary school curriculum has been offered to parentsand others in the community. This course has been offered fourtimes so far and has been fully and immediately subscribed eachtime.

Emerging Roles

The major new role that has been created in Prescott is therole of coordinator of computer education. This positionevolved from the position of project director of the originalTitle IV-C microcomputer project. The original project directorheld the position for two years before leaving the district. Atthat time, the current coordinator was given a half-timeposition, while continuing to teach computer literacy half-time.Next year (1983-84), the position will be made full-time if theboard approves the new budget. District commitment to theposition is indicated by the fact that the coordinator alreadyhas an office (two rooms with a:%ecretary) in the districtoffice building.

Other new positions that have been created include computerscience teachers at the two junior high schools. In addition,some pre-existing roles have been altered. The elementaryschool librarian has been very much involved in the microcom-puter project from the beginning, and she has had responsibilityfor software in the five elementary schools. (There is onelibrarian with an office in the district building, plus an aidein each school library.) The software can only be checked outby teachers. In addition, each library has a microcomputer foruse by the students.

Most elementary school teachers have added the teaching of

computer literacy to their previous duties. Many teachers haveadded programming to their standard teaching tasks, but themajor role changes have involved the consulting and supportfunctions that several teachers have added. These teachers arethe informal computer leaders in the various schools, and otherteachers come to them for help on all aspects of computer use.

Other new functions that have been added include the reviewof software conducted by an ad hoc group of about a dozen teach-ers and students in June 1982. Similar review groups areplanned for the future. In addition, several teachers have beeninvolved in the development of the computer literacy curriculum.

The head of one junior high school math department hasjoined the coordinator in giving workshops around the state forother educators. The Special Education/Vocational Educationcoordinator has become involved in vocational education assess-ment in collaboration with the University of Arizona. Several

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236

teachers are now getting involved in the new test scoringproject using the microcomputers and card readers.

Li/

SHELBY CITY SCHOOL DISTRICTShelby, Ohio

Case Study Report

J. Lynne White(COSMOS Corporation)

Susan A. Brummel(SRA Technologies, Inc.)

I. SUMMARY NARRATIVE AND CHRONOLOGY

The School District 239

Overview of Microcomputers Studied 240

Chronology 241

II. FEATURES OF THE MICROCOMPUTERSIntroduction 246Management of the Microcomputers 246Illustrative Applications 247

CIA/CMI in High School Special EducationClassroom 247

Individualized Instruction /Tutoring --Elementary School 248

III. ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUESCentralization and DecentralizationSpecial and Regular Education InteractionAdministrative and Instructional ApplicationsTrainingEmerging Roles

249250251252253

The authors are grateful to Terry Russell, Superintendent,for granting permission for the Shelby City School District, to

iparticipate in this study. We would like to thank James Hunter,the Coordinator of Special Programs, for arranging the visit andassisting the research team on site. We also appreciate theassistance given us by all the other educators in Shelby who metwith us and gave generously of their time to make our effortssuccessful.

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239

I. SUMMARY NARRATIVE AND CHRONOLOGY

The School District

Shelby City School District encompasses roughly 58 squaremiles of Richland County, which has been described as the"industrial heart" of North Central Ohio. Most of the residentsare employed in one of three large industries: Ohio Steel TubeCompany, Shelby Business Forms, and Shelby Mutual InsuranceCompany. The Shelby community has a residential population ofapproximately 10,000, which has remained stable over the yearsalthough industrial unemployment is currently a problem. Ingeneral, community members describe Shelby as providing "smalltown life" with access to the larger cities of Columbus andCleveland.

Shelby City School District is an autonomous districtthat currently serves 2,800 students in grades K-12. Almost allthe students are white, with less than one percent minority.There are six schools: four elementary schools (one K-6 andthree 1-6), one junior high school (7-8), and one senior highschool (9-12). Also located within the district is a regionalvocational school, which offers programs to 200 juniors andseniors from Shelby, as well as students from 14 neighboringdistricts.

Of the total student population, 210 students receive spe-cial education services. At the elementary school level, two ofthe schools house all the self-contained special educationclassrooms. The junior high school has two special educationclassrooms and the senior high school has a learningdisabilities resource center and two special education classesfor students identified as developmentally handicapped.

However, there are not enough special education students towarrant a full-time position for directing special educationservices. At one time, the assistant superintendent was respon-sible for special education services, but that position waseliminated in 1982. Presently, the administration of specialeducation is shared among three people. First, the high schoolguidance counselor is responsible for some special educationservices--e.g., mailing referrals and IEPs for the entire dis-trict, attending regional meetings, and generating reports.Second, the coordina.tor of special programs handles the fundingand accounting for the special education programs and all mate-rial and equipment requests. (Both of these people reportdirectly to the Superintendent.) Third, the district psycholo-gist is responsible for most of the testing, screening, andplacement of special education students, and he reports to the

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240

guidance counselor. In none of these cases is the specialeducation responsibility a full-time position.

In addition, the district contracts with the county forspecial education supervisor to work directly with the speciaeducation teachers on curriculum development and to serve onstudent placement committees. The position is a resource toteachers but carries no line authority. The district's ten scial education teachers (seven elementary, three secondary) asupervised by their principals, who in turn report to the Sup

intendent.

The si-udents in the Shelby schools have access to a tota

of 18 microcomputers. The units are located in all six schooIn addition to these microcomputers, the district has accessa. Burroughs mainframe computer at the regional vocational schthrough two terminals in the district office. The mainframe

used by the district administration to schedule secondary schprograms and to support the district's budgeting and accountisystems.

Overview of Microcomputers Studied

Microcomputer applications in Shelby vary across schools

and among individual classrooms, reflecting the interests ancobjectives of the users. Of the 18 microcomputers in the di:trict, 13 (8 TRS-80, 4 Commodore, and 1 Apple) are located itthe elementary schools. These are used with gifted/talented,special education, and fifth and sixth grade students. There

are three microcomputers (two Apple II-Plus, and one TRS-80)the junior high school, used oral, with the special educationgifted/talented students. The senior high school has two mi.(

computers (two Apple II-Plus), one for the senior computer c:and the other in a special education classroom.

The microcomputer applications are primarily instructiol

with only very limited administrative uses by a principal an

senior high school science teacher. Examples of microcomputi

use are:

A sixth grade class uses a self-directed program-ming course, "Meet the Computer," which is a setof card files that teaches programming through asequence of computer activities.

A special education classroom in the senior highschool has a microcomputer that is used by thestudents for drill-and-practice games. Themicrocomputer is seen primarily by teachers as

231

an instructional tool for remedial work in basicskills.

Two sixth grade classrooms each have a microcom-puter which is scheduled for use by all of thestudents every week. Students use it for compu-ter-assisted instruction (drill-and-practice) inmath and reading with some opportunity to playgames such as backgammon and micro-chess.

At the junior high school, the gifted/talentedstudents are given six weeks of programming in-struction using high-resolution graphics on aTSR-80 Color Computer.

One elementary school principal uses a microcom-puter in his office for staff information andevaluation files. During the teacher reviewconferences, the information is displayed on thecomputer monitor to facilitate discussion be-tween the principal and the staff member.

Another elementary school principal has a micro-computer in his office which is used by thegifted/talented students for their before-schoolprogram. Students, in pairs, are rotatedthrough his office during the week to learn thewriting of basic programs or to play popularmicrocomputer games such as backgammon andblackjack.

A Senior Computer Class is offered to twentystudents each semester, to learn computer aware-ness and basic programming. One microcomputeris used for demonstration purposes, with stu-dents scheduling individual time for programmingassignments.

Chronology

The district's first microcomputers, five TRS-80 (ModelI's), were purchased in the summer of 1980 with funds from anESEA Title IV-C grant. The grant proposal was written by theprincipals and several teachers from two elementary schools.The aim of the grant was to provide the gifted/talented studentswith computational drill-and-practice and with experience inMicrocoMiNter gp@ration and programming. The project funds alsosupported the purchase of software.

As use of the microcomputers beca le more visible in the

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district during the 1980-81 academic year, the other two elemen-tary schools decided to purchase microcomputers with gifted/ -talented supply funds and Title IV-B monies. At the same time,staff at the junior high school realized that the sixth graderswho were learning from the elementary classes would have nothingto expand their skills upon when they reached the seventh grade.Consequently, Title IV-B funds were used to acquire a TRS-80color microcomputer. The funding was arranged by the coordina-tor of special programs who had taken an interest in expandingmicrocomputer use in the district.

A year later, staff at the senior high felt that a micro-computer was needed, to enable the incoming students to continuetheir programming work. Also by this time, computer use had ex-panded in some schools beyond the small numbers of gifted/ -talented students, as individual teachers began to acquire moresoftware and see the advantages of using the microcomputers forinstructing all of their students.

The first microcomputer for special education was purchasedat the request of a special education teacher in one of theelementary schools in the winter of 1981-82. The coordinator ofspecial programs began at this point to use more of the TitleVI-B federal funds to acquire microcomputers for the otherspecial education classrooms. As funding became availableduring the 1982-83 academic year, microcomputers were providedto one special education classroom in each of the junior andsenior high schools, as well as to another elementary schoolspecial education classroom.

The growth and expansion of microcomputer use and applica-tions in the district has been primiarily at the initiative ofindividual, interested teachers and principals. During theearly implementation, no district-wide inservice training wasavailable. However, one school used a consultant, under the

original funding proposal, to provide several brief inservicedemonstrations. Most of the teachers were either self-taught oronly knew the rudiments of operating microcomputers. It was the

previous Superintendent's strategy, according to the coordinatorof special programs, to provide a "facilitative, not directive,atmosphere" by providing microcomputers, but allowing those in-terested to seek their own training. However, the absence oftraining, combined with a lack of software, resulted in underuseof microcomputers in some schools. Currently, units at two ele-mentary schools are underused, either because they are new andhave not been allocated to teachers, or because there is nostrong interest or direction for utilizing them.

It is the responsibility of individual principals toprovide direction and coordination regarding the use of micro-computers in their schools. The principals, in turn, may dele-

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243

gate the development of specific applications to the discretionof individual teachers. Apart from the coordination of fundingby the special programs director, the scheduling, training,maintenance and software purchases are channeled through theprincipals, whose interest and involvement vary at each site.

The lack of district-wide coordination and direction hasnot gone unnoticed. A Computer Committee was organized inJanuary 1983, with representatives from each school. The com-mittee has begun to address the need for a K-12 computer courseof study and a system-wide agreement on the future purchase ofhardware and software.

Major events in the history of microcomputer implementationin the Shelby City School District are presented in Table 1.

244

Table 1: Chronology of Implementation Shelby CitySchool District

DateMonth Event

1979-1980 Academic Year

Feb. 1980 Resubmission of ESEA Title IV-Cproposal (Project INPUT) requestingfive microcomputers and software.

April 1980 Awarded ESEA Title IV-C grant forcomputer project.

July 1980 Purchased five TSR-80 Model 1 (4K &16K) and starter software packages.

1980-1981 Academic Year

Nov. 1980

Dec. 1980

March 1981

June 1981

1981-1982 Academic Year

Sept. 1981

Sept. 1981

Teacher inservice with consultantat two elementary schools (10

weeks - 30 hours).

Purchased one TRS-80 Color ExtendedBasic unit.

Purchased two TRS-80 Model I micro-computers.

Summer course offered in BASIC pro-gramming for grades 4-9 (1 week -15 hours).

Purchased one Apple II-Plus.

Shelby Super Satuday courses offer-ed in computer literacy and basicprogramming for grades 3-9 (6

weeks - 12 hours).

Dec. 1981 Purchased one TRS-80 Model III andone Apple II-Plus.

236

Feb. 1982

1982-1983 Academic Year

Sept. 1982

Nov. 1982

Nov. 1982

Jan. 1983

Jan. 1983

Jan. 1983

Jan. 1983

Feb. 1983

245

Upgraded original TRS-80 Models to48K capacity and purchased one 16KTRS-80 Model III.

Upgraded 16K TRS-80 to 48K capacityand equipped with dual disk driveand printer.

Purchased one Apple II-Plus withdual disk drives and printer.

Teacher inservice at one elementaryschool on computer literacy (6weeks - 12 hours).

Computer Committee formed to esta-blish district directions for com-puter program.

Complied district-wide listing ofsoftware.

District teacher inservice withcomputer workshop (1 hour).

Purchased one Apple Ile microcom-puter.

Purchased one disk drive for eachelementary school.

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246

II. FEATURES OF THE MICROCOMPUTERS

Introduction

There are 18 microcomputers of differing hardware types inthe district's six schools. The four elementary schools have 13

of these microcomputers. One elementary school has three TRS-80models, equipped with cassette players, located in the fifth and

sixth grade classrooms. A second elementary school has two TRS-80 models, allocated to a special education classroom and to thegifted/talented resource room. A third elementary school, inaddition to two TRS-80's, has recently acquired four Commodore64's with tape recorders. These microcomputers are located inthe fifth and sixth grade classrooms, with the exception of oneunit in the principal's office. The fourth elementary schoolhas one TRS-80 Model I unit and one TRS-80 Model III unit,located respectively in the principal's office (for use by thegifted/talented students) and in a special education classroom.

At the junior high school, there are three microcomputers:one Apple II-Plus with disk drive and printer, one Apple IIewith disk drive, and one TRS-80 Color Extended Basic unit. One

of the computers is located in the principal's office. The

senior high has two Apple II-Plus microcomputers, both with disk

drives and printers. One computer is used for a senior computer

class and is in a storage room of the science department, theother microcomputer is located in a special education classroom.

Management of the Microcomputers

Most of the microcomputer purchases, including those forspecial education, have been managed by the coordinator ofspecial programs, who is responsible for all federal and special

funds. The purchases were all approved by the Superintendent

and school board. In some cases, the initial decision to adoptmicrocomputers for special education classes was made by thecoordinator, and not by the special education teachers. Several

special education teachers indicated that they were directed to

use microcomputers in their classrooms. One microcomputerpurchase occurred against the expressed wishes of two specialeducation teachers.

The purchase of microcomputers for regular education andgifted/talented students has also been handled by thecoordinator of special programs when the use of federal orspecial funds has been involved. However, when independentfunding was used--such as proceeds from school fund-raisingevents or P.T.O money--principals have independently purchased

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microcomputers and made independent decisions regarding the useof the equipment.

Apart from purchase and allocation, the district has nosingle person responsible for coordinating the implementation oruse of the microcomputers. Once microcomputers are allocated toa school or an individual teacher, decisions regarding software,training, and scheduling are left to the teachers and princi-pals. In general, software requests and hardware maintenanceare the responsibility of the principals. Thus, the extent ofuse reflects the leadership, support, and direction of princi-pals or teachers.

A newly-formed computer committee is beginning to questionthe lack of district-wide coordination and the isolated adoptionof different hardware. With representatives from each school,the committee plans to develop district guidelines for hardwareand software purchases and to develop a computer program encom-passing all grade levels. The committee has the authority tomake recommendations directly to the Superintendent.

Illustrative Applications

To provide an idea of how the microcomputers are being usedin the Shelby schools, two illustrative applications are des-cribed below.

CAI/CMI in High School Special Education Classroom. A spe-cial_ education teacher was excited about the possibility ofus.ng computer programs to develop-the eye/hand coordinationskills of her 17 special education students. Given the choicebetween an aide and a microcomputer, she chose the microcompu-ter.

The microcomputer, a TRS-80 Model III with dual disk driveand line printer, is located at the back of her classroom in a"Computer Center" along with other audio-visual equipment. Asstudents complete their "seat work," they take turns using thecomputer for at least 30 minutes daily. Students are allowed towork independently at the microcomputer after receiving opera-ting instructions and program demonstrations from the teacher.However, only certain students are allowed to load the disks anduse the printer because of some earlier abuse and damage.According to the teacher, students respect this arrangement, asthey do not want to be denied access to the microcomputer.

The most frequently used program package is the Radio Shackseries of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) software inmathematics for grades K-12. It has a student managementcapability (computer-managed-instruction) that allows Fatomatic

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progression (and return) from one lesson to the next, andrecords each student's progress in a skill area. Students alsouse the microcomputer for a variety of educational game programsthat focus on motor coordination or specific skills such asvocabulary and grammar. In addition, the microcomputer is used

for the class's "alfalfa sprout business." All the businessaccounts and records are kept on the microcomputer. Shares ofstock are sold in the company. The microcomputer was used totype and print letters to the stockholders who received anannual dividend check of four cents per share.

Individualized Instruction/Tutoring in an ElementarySchool. At one elementary school, fifth grade students are in-volved in a tutoring program. Two mornings per week, theschool's three TRS-80 microcomputers are moved to a location in

the hallway. Half of the students in the class report to thereading teacher who tutors them in reading, and the remainingfifth graders are involved in the microcomputer tutoring pro-gram.

Each fifth grade student is teamed with one first grader.Each team works together for 15 minutes, using a math prograh.written by the fifth grade teacher after his review of the firstgrade math text. Teams share the microcomputers, and threeteams can be working at any given time. Each fifth grader workswith the same first grader for a five-week session. The fifthgrade students are proud to show the first grade teacher howtheir "students" are doing. The fifth grade teacher keeps theprint-outs of student progress. Students are presently partici-pating in the first five-week series. During the next seriesthe teacher will give his fifth graders additional instructionsin order for them to further direct their "charges" on how to

use the microcomputer.

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III. ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES

Centralization and Decentralization

The first microcomputers in the district were purchasedthrough ESEA Title IV-C funds. Their use was shared and coor-dinated by staff at two elementary schools, to provide gifted/ -talented students with math computation drills and experience inmicrocomputer operation and programming. Since this initialcoordination between two schools during the Title IV-C project,the subsequent expansion of microcomputer use in the districthas been very decentralized. In successive years, additionalmicrocomputers were purchased for the remaining two elementaryschools, followed by purchases for the junior and senior highschools. Most purchase requests were initiated by interestedteachers and their principals. Purchasing decisions have beenmade at the building principal level, unless federal funds wereused for the purchase.

When purchases involved federal funds, requests weredirected to the coordinator of special programs. His decisionsare approved by the Superintendent. His early involvement withadministration of the first federally sponsored project involv-ing microcomputers (Title IV-C), coupled with his responsibilityfor administering federal funds, led to individuals seeking himout with their microcomputer requests. Nevertheless, thisresponsibility has not been added to his formal job description.He has also been very instrumental in providing microcomputersfor special education. Several units were purchased for specialeducation classrooms with available federal funds. All proce-dures, however, regarding scheduling of use, maintenance, secur-ity, and software purchases, have been determined by individualprincipals and teachers.

There have been two district-wide, one-hour inservicetraining sessions on microcomputer z, and one county-wide, two-hour inservice on computer use. However, most training is leftprimarily to the individual teachers, whose interest and initia-tive determines whether they teach themselves, take an outsidecourse, or get some training from other, more experienced teach-ers. The teachers using microcomputers to teach programming atthe junior and senior high schools have taught themselves anddeveloped their courses independent of each other. Differenttypes of microcomputers were purchased separately by theschools. As microcomputer use has expanded to include CAI aswell as programming, software purchases have become necessary.Staff at the schools have now become aware of significantsoftware incompatibility problems, as they attempt to sharesoftware and information between buildings.

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Teachers are also concerned with a question of efficiency- -

how much of a student's time is spent becoming acquainted withseveral different kinds of microcomputers, as the student pro-gresses from elementary, to junior, to senior high schools.Because of this evolution, the Shelby staff and the Superin-tendent felt that additional coordination would be valuable. In

January 1983, a Computer Committee was established. The esta-blishment of a committee is characteristic of administrativepractices in the district. There are at least seven committeesthat-report to the Superintendent on issues ranging from dis-trict philosophy to inservice training. The structure and pro-cess of the Computer Committee is similar to the others. Thecommittee chairperson is a principal who was appointed by the

Superintendent. Committee members include the coordinator ofspecial programs, as well as principals and teachers. Interest-ed principals and teachers from all the schools were encouragedto become members. There is presently at least one personrepresenting each of the Shelby City schools.

Members of the committee feel that they are at a crossroadand may need to decide on one type of hardware for all futurepurchases. No procedures for hardware/software acquisition havebeen determined yet, and all purchases are essentially on hold.

It is expected, however, that software/hardware purchase recom-mendations will be made before the end of the school year, in

order not to lose available federal funds.

The introduction of the microcomputer has not affectedmainframe applications in the district. These include budget-ing, secondary scheduling, payroll, and secondary attendance.(The district presently uses the Pioneer Computer Consortium atthe regional vocational school for these services.)

Special and Regular Education Interaction

No particular collaboration between regular and specialeducation teachers occurred during the initial implementation ofmicrocomputers in the district. This is the first full schoolyear that both regular and special education teachers have hadmicrocomputers, and they are still working in relative isolationfrom one another. All microcomputers presently being used bythe special education teachers were purchased with special edu-cation funds. This has obviated the need for shared usage dis-cussions between regular and special education teachers. One

special education teacher who is particularly enthusiastic aboutcomputer-assisted instruction has been working on her own ini-

tiative to get other sixth grade teachers in her building inter-ested in microcomputers. She has loaned out her microcomputerto one interested teacher and has set up demonstrations for the

other teacher's students.

At the present time, gifted/talented and special educationstudents have more opportunity for microcomputer use' than otherstudents. There were no indications that regular educationteachers without microcomputers feel that they have been leftout. The teachers who are presently most interested in usingmicrocomputers already have them. This is reflected in the num-ber of microcomputers (more than three) that are available insome schools and are not regularly checked out by teachers forclassroom use.

The special and two regular education teachers using micro-computers at the high school have begun an informal relationshipfor sharing information, software, and microcomputers. Thespecial education teachers at this school cannot accommodaterequests by the regular education teachers to use the specialeducation computer for periods during the day. Microcomputersbought with special 'education funds must be located in specialeducation classrooms. Students assigned to those classroomshave first priority for use of the microcomputers. If no spe-cial education students need the microcomputer, a regular educa-tion student can use a special education microcomputer on acasual basis.

Administrative and Instructional Applications

The present applications of the microcomputers are primar-ily instructional. The first microcomputers in the districtwere purchased through a grant which designated their use forinstructional purposes. Subsequent purchases have been a resultof teachers' requests for instructional use, or of the coordina-tor of special program's interest in using EHA Title VI-B fundsto establish computer-assisted-instruction in special educationprograms.

One principal shares a microcomputer with his teachers anduses it for an administrative application: storing personnelinformation and displaying staff evaluation summaries duringindividual teacher conferences. He is the only administratorpresently using a microcomputer in this way.

Several principals have expressed an interest in futureadministrative applications. One principal feels this is atleast five years away, and the Computer Committee is only givingattention to instructional issues. One principal uses a micro-computer rather extensively but only for instructional applica-tions. He conducted a six-week course in computer literacy for12 interested teachers. The course was held twice each weekbefore school. He is presently going into classrooms (grades

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two through six) for five-week demonstrations that are arrangedwith individual teacher:

One principal has a computer in his office while he islearning to use it so he can teach other teachers. Anotherprincipal has one in his office for use by gifted/talented stu-dents because there is no other space available. All of theseadditional uses by principals reflect instructional rather thanadministrative applications.

-The existence of the mainframe (time-sharing) services forbudgeting and scheduling does not preclude administrativeapplications with microcomputers. Rather, the growth of suchusage is limited by the availability of microcomputers, and by

the time and training required to determine how to implementeffective administrative applications. The Superintendentrelated that, although he personally would not have tl-e time to

use a microcomputer, at least one person at the district office

is interested. Alternatively, he felt that purchase of a micro-computer for the district office would not be well received at

this time. Rather, any microcomputers purchased should be made

available to the students. The Superintendent also related thatteacher representatives with access to a microcomputer appearedto have an advantage during budget/salary negotiations with theschool board. This was due to their quick ability to producespread-sheet data on personnel and expenses.

Training

During the Title IV-C Project, the school board paid for a

ten-week training course taken by the first five persons in thedistrict to use microcomputers. Since that time, there has been

very little district-sponsored training, and most users are

self-taught. It was the Superintendent's strategy, according to

the coordinator of special programs, to only provide microcompu-

ters to interested teachers and, thereby, to encourage them togenerate their own pressure to learn. There have been two dis-trict-wide inservice meetings attended by approximately 12teachers but lasting only one hour each. In addition, there was

one county-wide inservice on microcomputer use. All four of theusers at the high school are self-taught. One of the juniorhigh users is self-taught. The other user has taken an "AppleII and YOU" course at the local technical collelge.

One lementary principal has taken courses at Radio Shack.

He conducts before-school training sessions for interestedteachers at his school. He simultaneously encourages his

teachers to use the one microcomputer that is available forgeneral use at his school. Another principal is hoping to offermore training through a free program sponsored by Radio Shack.

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Several teachers at one school have taken a course at thelocal technical college and several teachers at another schoolare presently taking a course at the regional vocational highschool. Some teachers are not aware of any training availableto them.

There is no formal mechanism that would allow those wholearn about outside training at one school to share that infor-mation with interested staff at other schools. Some teacherswho have not received formal training have been interestedenough in the microcomputer to teach themselves programming.They then go on to introduce programming to their students. Forothers, however, the implementation experience has not been assatisfactory and, according to some teachers, has been marred bythe lack of training and software.

In some instances, microcomputers were assigned to teacherswho were not highly motivated to use them. Several of theseteachers do not know how to load diskettes. They have little orno software and don't know what to order or whether there ismoney for software. Several teachers said that they were ableto use commercial software and had taught their students how toload the microcomputer. However, they felt that they wereprobably misusing the microcomputer because they didn't know howto program it as other teachers did.

Emerging Roles

No new roles have been formally created to coordinate theimplementation of microcomputers in the district. The coordi-nator of special programs has been instrumental in securingmicrocomputers through various federal funding sources. Hisactivities were, however, limited to his financial role insecuring microcomputers and related materials. He continues tobe sought out for information about federal funding possibili-ties for microcomputers. Most administrators and teachers feltthat his responsibilities did not include coordination of themicrocomputer applications. Building principals have assumedprimary responsibility for microcomputer use and maintenance.

The recently formed Computer Committee, chaired by a prin-cipal, will draft recommendations regarding coordination func-tions as part of their recommendations to be submitted to theSuperintendent for approval. It is not anticipated that coor-dination responsibilities will be delegated to any one person inthe district.

There have been no additional salaries to any school per-sonnel for microcomputer related activities during the school

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year. There are no indications that this will change. Some ofthe teachers have served as instructors at the two district-wideinservices. Also, several teachers instruct students in micro-computer classes on "Shelby Super Saturdays."

MADISON PARISH SCHOOL SYSTEMTallulah, Louisiana

Case Study Report

J. Lynne White(COSMOS Corporation)

Karl D. White(SRA Technologies, Inc.)

I. SUMMARY NARRATIVE AND CHRONOLOGYThe School District 257Overview of Microcomputers Studied 258Chronology 258

II. FEATURES OF THE MICROCOMPUTERSIntroduction 261Management of the Microcomputers 261Illustrative Application 261

Student Tracking System 262

III. ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUESCentralization and DecentralizationSpecial and Regular Education InteractionAdministrative and Instructional ApplicationsTrainingEmerging Roles

263263264265265

The authors are grateful to Mr. H.B. Halbach, Superinten-dent, for granting permission for the Madison Parish SchoolSystem to participate in this study. We would like to thank Dr.Dan Trimble, Supervisor of Special Education, for arranging ourvisit and assisting the research team on site. We also appre-ciate the assistance given us by all the other educators who metwith us and gave generously of their time to make our effortssuccessful.

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I. SUMMARY NARRATIVE AND CHRONOLOGY

The School District

The Madison Parisi. School System is located in extremenortheast Louisiana, on the bank of the Mississippi River. Theschool district's administrative offices are located in the townof Tallulah, which is the parish seat and largest town. Theresidential population served by the school system is approxi-mately 13,000. The economy of the district is agriculturallybased and, until the mechanization of farming in recent years,was dependent on manual labor. With the decline of needed laborand the absence of alternative employment opportunities, therate of unemployment is 18-19 percent in this area. Presently,the school district is the largest employer in Madison Parish.

The student population of the school system is 3,800,slightly less than previous years. Ninety percent of the stu-dents are Black, and 95 percent of all the students qualify forcompensatory education funds. The Madison Parish School Systemconsists of ten buildings: three administrative offices andseven school sites. One of the administration buildings is forcentral district functions, one is for Title I functions, andone building contains the special education services. Five ofthe schools--two elementary, one junior high, and one seniorhigh-are located in Tallulah. The other two schools are a K-12school located in Thomastown and an elementary school in Waver-ly.

The special education program in the district has expandedduring the last five years from 3 to 16 resource andself-contained classrooms, now serving approximately 380students. In addition to the 16 special education teachers inthe schools, there are three preschool teachers, who conducthome visits and early evaluation activities, and four speechtherapists. The special education program also employs a schoolpsychologist, a social worker, and an assessment teacher, whoare responsible for pupil evaluation and placementrecommendations. The supervisor of special educationcoordinates and manages the entire special education program inthe district. He reports directly to the Superintendent.

All of the microcomputers in the school system are used foreither administrative or instructional special education activi-ties. In the special education administrative offices, thereare two Intertec Compusta: microcomputers used by the super-visor. Ten microcomputers (one TRS-80 and nine Commodore PETs)are distributed in special education classrooms throughout thedistrict. In addition, two Franklin 1200 and six Franklin 1000

2 .4';1

microcomputers have been purchased for a basic skills lab at i

junior high school.

Overview of Microcomputers Studied

The microcomputers chosen for the focus of this study arethe two Intertec Compustars located in the special educationadministrative office. The units are used exclusively by thesupervisor of special education for administrative applicatioiThe microcomputers are used for data base management, wordprocessing, and other administrative software packages.Examples of administrative use include:

The monitoring of students' Individualized Educa-

to parents for IEP conferences;

for forms and reports;

education materials and equip-

Word processing for the Special Education Policiesand Procedures manual;

Listing of microcomputer equipment in district withlocations and acquisition dates;.

Special education accounting with budgeted items

and list of expenditures;

Annual special education and speech reports.

tional Plans (IEP);

Notification letters

Student data records

Inventory ofment;

special

Chronology

Microcomputer technology was introduced into the MadisorParish School System by the supervisor of special education1977. The supervisor had become interested in the possibilitof microcomputer technology from an article in a PopularMechanics magazine. After purchasing a DMS microcomputer foihis personal use at home, he soon realized the applicabilitythe microcomputer for special education - functions. He startEby using his home computer for storing demographic data on sicial education students with a data base management programfor developing report formats with word processing. At apprcmately the same time, a special education supervisor in a ne:boring district was exploring microcomputer use, so the two

259

supervisors began to exchange Ideas informally.

The Madison Parish supervisor decided to approach theschool board about the possibility of the parish purchasing amicrocomputer for special education services. Convinced of thefeasibility and cost effectiveness of using a microcomputer intheir small, rural parish, the school board approved the acqui-sition of one unit. Based on the supervisor's evaluation ofavailable hardware and bid results, one Intertec Compustar andprinter was purchased in the fall of 1979, using federal specialeducation funds.

A second Intertec Compustar was added to the special educa-tion office in the fall of 1982, using additional federal spe-cial education funds. Both microcomputers are used extensivelyby the supervisor of special education for a variety of adminis-trative tasks.

In addition, the supervisor developed a comprehensive track-ing system for the special education students in the district.The local company that assisted in the design of the softwarehas sold the program to 14 other districts in the state. Thesupervisor of special education was involved in the implementa-tion of the system in the other school systems. He often makespresentations and holds inservice training in the neighboringdistricts. The microcomputers in Madison Parish are connectedby modem to another district's microcomputer so the special edu-cation supervisors can exchange information and resources. Inthe fall of 1983, the Madison Parish School System will be par-ticipating in a pilot project to implement a statewide computer-ized student tracking system similar to the existing microcompu-ter program.

Apart from his involvement in the implementation of admin-istrative microcomputers in the special education office, thesupervisor was instrumental in acquiring microcomputers for in-structional use in special education classrooms. The supervisorcoordinated the purchase of ten microcomputers (nine CommodorePETs and one TRS-80) and software, using special education cur-riculum funds. He is responsible for managing the use of themicrocomputers, including maintenance, training, and technicalassistance. It must be noted, however, that the microcomputersfor instruction are entirely separate in their management anduse from the units for administration.

The major events in the implementation of administrativemicrocomputers in the Madison Parish School System are presentedin Table 1.

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L. V V

Table 1: Chronology of Implementation

DateMonth-Year Event

Madison FSchool

1977-1978 Academic Year

Fall 1979

1978-1979 Academic Year

Marsh 1979

1979-1980 Academic Year

Sept. 1979

1980-1981 Academic Year

Sept. 1980

Fall 1980

Spring 1981

1981-1982 Academic Year

Supervisor of special educatiolchases microcomputer for homeand develops reports and formsspecial education.

Approval granted by school boapurchase one microcomputer forspecial education services.

Purchase of one Intertec Compuand printer with federal specieducation funds.

Presentation on administrativeapplications of microcomputerstwo state conferences by superof special education.

Course offered to administratoand teachers on microcomputercations through the Professionprovement Program Points.

Supervisor of special educaticprovides inservice to other scdistricts.

1982-1983 Academic Year

Sept. 1982 Purchase of one Intertec Comptand printer for special educai

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II. FEATURES OF THE MICROCOMPUTERS

Introduction

Presently, the special education administrative officeshave two Intertec Compustar microcomputers. Both units areequipped with disk drives and printers (one dot matrix and oneNEC 7710 letter-quality printer). One of the microcomputers islocated behind the clerical aide's desk for data entry purposes.The other unit is placed behind a room divider in the rear ofthe office, creating a separate workstation for the special edu-cation supervisor's use.

The microcomputers are used on a daily basis by the specialeducation supervisor and the clerical aide. The supervisorestimates his use to be approximately three hours daily and theaide's use (of the other unit) four hours daily.

Management of the Microcomputers

As the primary user of the microcomputers for special edu-cation administration, the supervisor of special education isresponsible for all aspects of their use. He handles the fund-ing and purchasing decisions, installation, maintenance, andsoftware acquisitions. The supervisor is responsible for keep-ing the Superintendent and school board informed of his micro-computer activities.

In addition, the supervisor has been instrumental in assist-ing the other microcomputer adopters in the district. He wasresponsible for purchasing the microcomputers for instructionaluse in special education classrooms. As a result, he providescoordination and technical assistance for these units. Thesupervisor has the only computer expertise in the district, sohe informally serves as the "microcomputer specialist" for theentire district. In the absence of planning groups or commit-tees, the supervisor has acted alone in guiding the adoption andexpansion of microcomputer use in the Madison Parish SchoolSystem.

Illustrative Application

To provide an idea of how the microcomputers are being usedfor special education administration in Madison Parish, oneillustrative application is described below.

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Student Tracking System. The administrative tracking sys-tem for special education students represents the most uniqueapplication in the district. The program was custom-designeda programmer with MicroTechnology, in conjunction with thesupervisor of special education. It is a Modular Software Sys-tem, set up to handle general business and fund accounting inaddition to the special education student tracking. (The pro-gram allows a user to purchase only the needed modules, with t]option of adding other modules later.)

The Special Education module is used to create and maintaifiles about students in special education programs. Optionalroutines include capabilities for adding, examining, listing,and deleting the student records. The supervisor uses the computer files to enter data on the progress of students. He isthen able to print a variety of reports such as IEP revisions,dates, pupil appraisal summary reports, evaluation process re-ports, and principals' Special Education Reports. Also, detaied reports can be printed showing the status of each student athe students needing updates of their records.

Since the implementaion of the program in the MadisonParish School System, approximately 14 other districts have puchased the software package along with an Intertec Compustarmicrocomputer. The supervisor is recognized as the initiatorthis program and often travels to other districts to provideconsulting and training.

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III. ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES

Centralization and Decentralization

The microcomputers used for special education services inthe Madison Parish School System are highly centralized withregard to their adoption, implementation, and use. The decisionto adopt was made by the supervisor of special education, whowas interested in the microcomputer's capablities for adminis-trative tasks. On his home computer, the supervisor began usinga data base management program for student records and a wordprocessing program for office forms and reports. It was basedon his experience and knowledge that the school board approvedthe purchase of Intertec Compustar microcomputers with federalspecial education funds.

As the primary user, the supervisor of special educationhas complete control over the location, scheduling, and use of

the two microcomputers. The units are designated exclusivelyfor administrative use in special education. The supervisor hasbeen responsible for obtaining all the software programs as well

as having new programs designed for specific administrativefunctions. He alone decides on which applications to use in thedelivery of special education services. The supervisor is con-tinually expanding the microcomputer activities with recentadditions including accounting, a student tracking system,forms, manuals, and equipment inventories.

In the adoption of microcomputers for instructional use,the supervisor of special education purchased a separate system,operated independently of the microcomputers for administrativepurposes. The instructional microcomputers are a different typeof hardware and only use instructional software. Even thoughthe instructional microcomputers represent a separate system,they are also centralized in terms of purchasing decisions,software acquisition, location, and applications. The supervi-sor handled both the acquisition of the microcomputers withspecial education funds and the allocation of the units to spe-cial education resource rooms. Use of the microcomputers isidentical in each resource room because teachers have the samesoftware programs for computer-assisted instruction in basicskills.

Special and Regular Education Interaction

The use of microcomputers in the Madison Parish SchoolSystem has not affected the pattern of collaboration betweenregular and special education. The two Intertec Compustars are

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used exclusively for administrative purposes in the specialeducation services office. In part, their use is restricted tospecial education because they were purchased with federal spe-cial education funds.

In planning for implementation, the supervisor of specialeducation acted alone except for final approval given by theschool board. The supervisor is responsible for all aspects ofthe microcomputers, including acquiring software, developing neapplications, self-training, and maintenance. In addition, bybeing the only user, except for his clerical aide, the need forcollaboration is'not even an issue.

The supervisor of special education also is responsible fothe microcomputers used for instructional purposes. These unitwere purchased with special education funds and allocated onlyto special education resource rooms. As a result, regular edu-cation is not involved in any microcomputer use in the district

Administrative and Instructional Applications

In adopting microcomputers, the supervisor of special edu-cation planned only for administrative applications in specialeducation services. No consideration was given to regulareducation administrative applications or instructional uses.The supervisor's priority was to computerize the recordkeepingand other administrative tasks needed for tracking, evaluating,and reporting on special education students. The supervisoradapted existing software such as data base management and wordprocessing programs for some administrative functions specific-ally for special education. One software program was custom-designed by a local programmer for a comprehensive trackingsystem for special education students.

The original administrative uses of the two microcomputersare continually developed and expanded as more programs becomeavailable and more capabilities of the microcomputers for spe-cial education services are recognized. The data base manage-ment program first used by the supervisor now includes studentdemographic information, IEP planning and placement committeedates, student evaluation time - lines, federal special educationcounts, and reporting requirements. The word processing prograis used for annual reports as well as over 60 forms and manualsfor special education, such as parent notifications, annual conferences, IEP reviews, and reimbursement reports. The custom-designed, comprehensive student tracking system has been adoptsby 14 other districts in the last two years.

A separate set of microcomputers (nine Commodore PETs andone TRS-80) exists for computer-assisted instruction in the

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special education resource rooms. There is no overlap in termsof use, software, scheduling, or location between the instruc-tional microcomputers and the units in the special educationoffice. The microcomputers and software for instructional usewere purchased with state special educatj-an funds that are de-signated only for classroom purposes. Consequently, there wasno conflict in allocating resources to two different sets ofmicrocomputers.

Training

No training was necessary for the implementation of the twomicrocomputers for special education services. The supervisorof special education is the primary user of the equipment andusing a computer at home, taught himself both computer opera-tions and programming. He has developed all the administrativeapplications for special education by either adapting commercialprograms or collaborating on the design of new software. Thesupervisor has informally trained his clerical aide in computeroperations for entering data into programs.

The ',Ipervisor's microcomputer expertise has been importantto other districts adopting similiar microcomputer systems foradministrative applications. Often, the supervisor providesinservice training and workshops to neighboring districts on aneed basis. In addition, he made several presentations at stateconferences on the use of microcomputers in special educationadministration.

Training for the use of microcomputers in special educationinstruction has been provided by the supervisor of special edu-cation. An inservice session on computer operations wasoffered for the special education teachers when the equipmentwas first placed in the resource rooms. The only additionaltraining has been provided through the Professional ImprovementProgram Points in the district. Teachers can participate infive-hour workshops taught by the supervisor and receive creditfor salary increases. The training focuses on computer appli-cations in instruction and on BASIC programming. The supervisoradmits that the training for teachers has been minimal becauseit is an additional demand on his time.

Emerging Roles

No new organizational roles have been created due to theimplementation of microcomputers in the district. The super-visor of special education was the only person involved in theplanning and adoption of microcomputers in special educationservices. He describes his involvement in implementing micro-

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computers as a personal interest that has enabled him to organ-ize and administer special education services more efficiently.

Since the supervisor has the only computer expertise in t1district, he has informally assumed the role of computer spe-cialist but it is not an official part of his position. For ttcentral administrative office's microcomputer, the supervisorwas instrumental in the purchasing, installation, training, anccontinues to provide technical assistance to its users. Thesupervisor was responsible for the purchase of the microcompu-ters-and software for instruction, and continues to manage thesystem in terms of maintenance and technical assistance.